Category profile
- Dominance
- 82
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 80
- Honours
- 80
- Statistics
- 86
Career timeline · Major golds per season
| Season | Major golds per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 2 | |
| 1976 | 2 | |
| 1977 | 3 | |
| 1978 | 4 | |
| 1979 | 5 | |
| 1980 | 5 | |
| 1981 | 4 | |
| 1982 | 3 | |
| 1983 | 2 | |
| 1984 | 2 | |
| 1985 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1988 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 0 |
Data sources
- World Athletics
- Olympedia
- IOC
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Steve Ovett ranks #70 in Athletics
Steve Ovett ranks 70th among Athletics athletes on GOAT Rank and 571st of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 83.4 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 82, Peak 90, Longevity 80, Honours 80, Statistics 86. 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 1973–1991 with 17 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1979, which sets the Peak component at 90. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 90 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes olympic golds 1, world records 5, european titles 1, commonwealth golds 1.
Immediately ahead sits Abebe Bikila on 85.8, a gap of 2.4 points. Directly behind is Marie-José Pérec on 84.7. 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.
Steve Ovett GOAT Score explained
- Dominance82/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Ovett stood above the field while competing. Scored 82/100 against the full Athletics cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1979. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity80/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 18 years of competition and 17 recorded seasons. Scored 80/100.
- Honours80/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 80/100.
- Statistics86/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 86/100.
Top Ovett comparisons
Steve Ovett — frequently asked
- Is Steve Ovett the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Steve Ovett ranks 70th in Athletics with a GOAT Score of 83.4, behind Carl Lewis on 93.1.
- What is Steve Ovett's GOAT Score?
- 83.4 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 82 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 80 (20%), Honours 80 (20%), Statistics 86 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Steve Ovett rank all time?
- 571st of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 70th within Athletics.
- Steve Ovett vs Abebe Bikila: who ranks higher?
- Abebe Bikila, on 85.8 against Steve Ovett's 83.4 — a margin of 2.4 points.