Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 86
- Honours
- 92
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Form index per season
| Season | Form index per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 2 | |
| 1992 | 4 | |
| 1993 | 3 | |
| 1994 | 5 | |
| 1995 | 3 | |
| 1996 | 4 | |
| 1997 | 3 | |
| 1998 | 4 | |
| 1999 | 3 | |
| 2000 | 5 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 3 |
Data sources
- World Aquatics
- Olympedia
- IOC results
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Jenny Thompson ranks #14 in Swimming
Jenny Thompson ranks 14th among Swimming athletes on GOAT Rank and 151st of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 88.6 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 90, Longevity 86, Honours 92, Statistics 90. Those categories are normalised against the full Swimming reference universe of 289 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1991–2004 with 14 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1994, which sets the Peak component at 90. Honours 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 gold medals 8, olympic medals 12, world championship golds 9, olympic games contested 4.
Immediately ahead sits Sarah Sjöström on 88.6, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Alexander Popov on 88.0. 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.
Jenny Thompson GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Thompson stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Swimming cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1994. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity86/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 13 years of competition and 14 recorded seasons. Scored 86/100.
- Honours92/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 92/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Thompson comparisons
Jenny Thompson — frequently asked
- Is Jenny Thompson the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Jenny Thompson ranks 14th in Swimming with a GOAT Score of 88.6, behind Michael Phelps on 98.1.
- What is Jenny Thompson's GOAT Score?
- 88.6 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 86 (20%), Honours 92 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Jenny Thompson rank all time?
- 151st of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 14th within Swimming.
- Jenny Thompson vs Sarah Sjöström: who ranks higher?
- Jenny Thompson, on 88.6 against Sarah Sjöström's 88.6 — a margin of 0.0 points.