Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 92
- Longevity
- 74
- Honours
- 86
- Statistics
- 88
Career timeline · Major golds per season
| Season | Major golds per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 8358 | |
| 1991 | 8812 | |
| 1992 | 8891 | |
| 1993 | 8817 | |
| 1994 | 8715 | |
| 1995 | 8682 | |
| 1996 | 8824 | |
| 1997 | 8755 | |
| 1998 | 8100 | |
| 1999 | 8000 |
Data sources
- World Athletics
- Olympedia
- IOC
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Dan O'Brien ranks #84 in Athletics
Dan O'Brien ranks 84th among Athletics athletes on GOAT Rank and 822nd of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 85.1 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 92, Longevity 74, Honours 86, 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 1988–2000 with 10 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1992, 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 1, world championship golds 3, world records 1, best score (points) 8891.
Immediately ahead sits Jessica Ennis-Hill on 85.0, a gap of -0.1 points. Directly behind is Carolina Klüft on 84.5. 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.
Dan O'Brien GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far O'Brien stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Athletics cohort.
- Peak92/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1992. Scored 92/100.
- Longevity74/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 12 years of competition and 10 recorded seasons. Scored 74/100.
- Honours86/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
- Statistics88/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 88/100.
Top O'Brien comparisons
Dan O'Brien — frequently asked
- Is Dan O'Brien the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Dan O'Brien ranks 84th in Athletics with a GOAT Score of 85.1, behind Carl Lewis on 93.1.
- What is Dan O'Brien's GOAT Score?
- 85.1 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 74 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Dan O'Brien rank all time?
- 822nd of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 84th within Athletics.
- Dan O'Brien vs Jessica Ennis-Hill: who ranks higher?
- Dan O'Brien, on 85.1 against Jessica Ennis-Hill's 85.0 — a margin of 0.1 points.