Category profile
- Dominance
- 88
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 66
- Honours
- 82
- Statistics
- 88
Career timeline · Major golds per season
| Season | Major golds per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 1 | |
| 1964 | 2 | |
| 1965 | 3 | |
| 1966 | 4 | |
| 1967 | 3 | |
| 1968 | 4 | |
| 1969 | 2 |
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 Tommie Smith ranks #117 in Athletics
Tommie Smith ranks 117th among Athletics athletes on GOAT Rank and 728th of 2289 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 83.6 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 88, Peak 94, Longevity 66, Honours 82, Statistics 88. 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 1963–1969 with 7 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1966, which sets the Peak component at 94. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes olympic gold medals 1, world records 11, 200 m olympic record 19.83, ncaa titles 3.
Immediately ahead sits Abel Antón on 85.4, a gap of 1.8 points. Directly behind is Maurice Greene on 83.5. 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.
Tommie Smith GOAT Score explained
- Dominance88/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Smith stood above the field while competing. Scored 88/100 against the full Athletics cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1966. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity66/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 6 years of competition and 7 recorded seasons. Scored 66/100.
- Honours82/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 82/100.
- Statistics88/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 88/100.
Top Smith comparisons
Tommie Smith — frequently asked
- Is Tommie Smith the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Tommie Smith ranks 117th in Athletics with a GOAT Score of 83.6, behind Usain Bolt on 93.2.
- What is Tommie Smith's GOAT Score?
- 83.6 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 88 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 66 (20%), Honours 82 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Tommie Smith rank all time?
- 728th of 2289 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 117th within Athletics.
- Tommie Smith vs Abel Antón: who ranks higher?
- Abel Antón, on 85.4 against Tommie Smith's 83.6 — a margin of 1.8 points.