GGOATRANK
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Athletics · Field events · United Kingdom

Daley Thompson

1976–1992 · Two Olympic decathlon golds and four world records.

Retired
Ranking model

100% titles, statistics, dominance, longevity and global competition depth.

Pure sporting data
85.3
Cultural & brand footprint 48/100 · total legacy 78.6
Olympic golds
2
World Championship golds
1
World records
4
European golds
2
Commonwealth golds
3
Decathlon best
8,847

Category profile

Dominance
88
Peak
92
Longevity
82
Honours
90
Statistics
88

Career timeline · Major golds per season

SeasonMajor golds per seasonShare of career
19788190
19798622
19808495
19818707
19828743
19838666
19848847
19858663
19868300
19878124

Data sources

  • World Athletics
  • Olympedia
  • Olympics.com

Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method

Why Daley Thompson ranks #33 in Athletics

Daley Thompson ranks 33rd among Athletics athletes on GOAT Rank and 214th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 88.0 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 88, Peak 92, Longevity 82, Honours 90, Statistics 88. Those categories are normalised against the full Athletics reference universe of 309 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.

The record covers 1976–1992 with 10 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1984, which sets the Peak component at 92. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 92 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes olympic golds 2, world championship golds 1, world records 4, european golds 2.

Immediately ahead sits Ingrid Kristiansen on 87.8, a gap of -0.2 points. Directly behind is Renaud Lavillenie on 87.0. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.

Daley Thompson GOAT Score explained

Dominance88/100 · weight 25%
Measures how far Thompson stood above the field while competing. Scored 88/100 against the full Athletics cohort.
Peak92/100 · weight 20%
Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1984. Scored 92/100.
Longevity82/100 · weight 20%
Rewards staying at that level over time: 16 years of competition and 10 recorded seasons. Scored 82/100.
Honours90/100 · weight 20%
Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 90/100.
Statistics88/100 · weight 15%
Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 88/100.

Daley Thompson — frequently asked

Is Daley Thompson the GOAT?
Not on the current data. Daley Thompson ranks 33rd in Athletics with a GOAT Score of 88.0, behind Carl Lewis on 93.1.
What is Daley Thompson's GOAT Score?
88.0 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 88 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 82 (20%), Honours 90 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
Where does Daley Thompson rank all time?
214th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 33rd within Athletics.
Daley Thompson vs Ingrid Kristiansen: who ranks higher?
Daley Thompson, on 88.0 against Ingrid Kristiansen's 87.8 — a margin of 0.2 points.
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