Category profile
- Dominance
- 88
- Peak
- 92
- Longevity
- 76
- Honours
- 86
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Major golds per season
| Season | Major golds per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 2 | |
| 1961 | 2 | |
| 1962 | 2 | |
| 1963 | 2 | |
| 1964 | 2 | |
| 1965 | 2 | |
| 1966 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
| 1968 | 1 |
Data sources
- World Athletics
- Olympedia
- IOC results
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Ralph Boston ranks #74 in Athletics
Ralph Boston ranks 74th among Athletics athletes on GOAT Rank and 445th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 86.3 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 88, Peak 92, Longevity 76, Honours 86, Statistics 90. Those categories are normalised against the full Athletics reference universe of 313 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1960–1968 with 9 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1960, 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 gold medals 1, olympic medals 3, world records 6, best long jump in metres 8.35.
Immediately ahead sits Marita Koch on 86.3, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Tyson Gay on 86.2. 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.
Ralph Boston GOAT Score explained
- Dominance88/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Boston 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 1960. Scored 92/100.
- Longevity76/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 8 years of competition and 9 recorded seasons. Scored 76/100.
- Honours86/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 86/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Boston comparisons
Ralph Boston — frequently asked
- Is Ralph Boston the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Ralph Boston ranks 74th in Athletics with a GOAT Score of 86.3, behind Usain Bolt on 93.2.
- What is Ralph Boston's GOAT Score?
- 86.3 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 88 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 76 (20%), Honours 86 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Ralph Boston rank all time?
- 445th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 74th within Athletics.
- Ralph Boston vs Marita Koch: who ranks higher?
- Ralph Boston, on 86.3 against Marita Koch's 86.3 — a margin of 0.0 points.