Category profile
- Dominance
- 82
- Peak
- 92
- Longevity
- 72
- Honours
- 82
- Statistics
- 88
Career timeline · Major golds per season
| Season | Major golds per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 44.38 | |
| 2015 | 43.48 | |
| 2016 | 43.03 | |
| 2017 | 43.62 | |
| 2018 | 44.58 | |
| 2019 | 45.2 | |
| 2020 | 44.56 | |
| 2021 | 44.17 | |
| 2022 | 44.5 | |
| 2023 | 44.8 |
Data sources
- World Athletics
- Olympedia
- Olympics.com
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Wayde van Niekerk ranks #67 in Athletics
Wayde van Niekerk ranks 67th among Athletics athletes on GOAT Rank and 552nd of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 82.9 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 82, Peak 92, Longevity 72, Honours 82, Statistics 88. 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 2010–present with 10 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 2019, 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 golds 1, world championship golds 2, 400 m world record (s) 43.03, world records 1.
Immediately ahead sits Christian Olsson on 84.3, a gap of 1.4 points. Directly behind is Alberto Juantorena on 85.6. 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.
Wayde van Niekerk GOAT Score explained
- Dominance82/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far van Niekerk stood above the field while competing. Scored 82/100 against the full Athletics cohort.
- Peak92/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 2019. Scored 92/100.
- Longevity72/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 16 years of competition and 10 recorded seasons. Scored 72/100.
- 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 van Niekerk comparisons
Wayde van Niekerk — frequently asked
- Is Wayde van Niekerk the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Wayde van Niekerk ranks 67th in Athletics with a GOAT Score of 82.9, behind Carl Lewis on 93.1.
- What is Wayde van Niekerk's GOAT Score?
- 82.9 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 82 (25%), Peak 92 (20%), Longevity 72 (20%), Honours 82 (20%), Statistics 88 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Wayde van Niekerk rank all time?
- 552nd of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 67th within Athletics.
- Wayde van Niekerk vs Christian Olsson: who ranks higher?
- Christian Olsson, on 84.3 against Wayde van Niekerk's 82.9 — a margin of 1.4 points.