Category profile
- Dominance
- 82
- Peak
- 88
- Longevity
- 96
- Honours
- 84
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Major golds per season
| Season | Major golds per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 2 | |
| 1981 | 2 | |
| 1982 | 3 | |
| 1983 | 4 | |
| 1984 | 4 | |
| 1985 | 3 | |
| 1986 | 4 | |
| 1987 | 5 | |
| 1988 | 4 | |
| 1989 | 3 | |
| 1990 | 4 | |
| 1991 | 5 | |
| 1992 | 4 | |
| 1993 | 4 | |
| 1994 | 3 | |
| 1995 | 3 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1997 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 |
Data sources
- World Athletics
- Olympedia
- IOC
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Merlene Ottey ranks #14 in Athletics
Merlene Ottey ranks 14th among Athletics athletes on GOAT Rank and 104th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 87.6 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 82, Peak 88, Longevity 96, Honours 84, Statistics 90. 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 1978–2012 with 22 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1987, which sets the Peak component at 88. Longevity is the defining strength of the profile at 96 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes olympic medals 9, world championship medals 14, olympic appearances 7, 200m best (sec) 21.64.
Immediately ahead sits Al Oerter on 89.7, a gap of 2.1 points. Directly behind is Anita Włodarczyk on 89.9. 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.
Merlene Ottey GOAT Score explained
- Dominance82/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Ottey stood above the field while competing. Scored 82/100 against the full Athletics cohort.
- Peak88/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1987. Scored 88/100.
- Longevity96/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 34 years of competition and 22 recorded seasons. Scored 96/100.
- Honours84/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 84/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Ottey comparisons
Merlene Ottey — frequently asked
- Is Merlene Ottey the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Merlene Ottey ranks 14th in Athletics with a GOAT Score of 87.6, behind Carl Lewis on 93.1.
- What is Merlene Ottey's GOAT Score?
- 87.6 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 82 (25%), Peak 88 (20%), Longevity 96 (20%), Honours 84 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Merlene Ottey rank all time?
- 104th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 14th within Athletics.
- Merlene Ottey vs Al Oerter: who ranks higher?
- Al Oerter, on 89.7 against Merlene Ottey's 87.6 — a margin of 2.1 points.