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The 16-year-old athlete likely has an unbeatable excuses for skipping school any high school 11th grader can imagine, since he spent in Japan during the recent days training to participate for the United States squad at the World Athletics Championship.

But the teenager's dream of making the 800m championship race concluded in the first round on Tuesday as he could only finish seventh in the intense heat of Tokyo.

“It was definitely tough,” the young runner stated later. “Not every race goes as planned. You might stumble now and then, but you come back. And I look forward for what lies ahead.”

Lutkenhaus’s top time of 1 min 42.27 sec places him as the 22nd quickest athlete – although he is still a boy – in the all-time list over 800m. So great was his potential that Kenyan world record holder David Rudisha, in attendance in the stadium, mentioned he couldn't wait to watching the American athlete race.

Lutkenhaus, the youngest American ever to compete at the international event after finishing runner-up in the national qualifiers, was self-assured after performing strongly in training. Yet he was not able to deliver his best when it mattered.

He occupied the majority of the race in lane two or three, and when he attempted his closing speed with 150 meters to go, he lacked sufficient left in the tank. He crossed the line in one minute 47.68 seconds in a race taken by Poland’s Maciej Wyderka.

“Well, the finish was missing like usual,” Lutkenhaus said. “Still, you keep pushing forward, gain experience. But I'm walking out of the stadium with my head held high, simply because facing the world’s finest in the world is thrilling.”

“I don’t really have any disappointments from the event,” he added. “It's normal to experience off days now and then.”