Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 86
- Honours
- 82
- Statistics
- 92
Career timeline · Major golds per season
| Season | Major golds per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 40 | |
| 1979 | 48 | |
| 1980 | 56 | |
| 1981 | 64 | |
| 1982 | 73 | |
| 1983 | 81 | |
| 1984 | 89 | |
| 1985 | 97 | |
| 1986 | 91 | |
| 1987 | 85 | |
| 1988 | 79 | |
| 1989 | 73 | |
| 1990 | 67 | |
| 1991 | 60 | |
| 1992 | 54 | |
| 1993 | 48 | |
| 1994 | 42 | |
| 1995 | 36 | |
| 1996 | 30 |
Data sources
- World Athletics records
- Olympedia
- Track and Field Statistics
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Willie Banks ranks #49 in Athletics
Willie Banks ranks 49th among Athletics athletes on GOAT Rank and 519th of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 87.7 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 94, Longevity 86, Honours 82, Statistics 92. Those categories are normalised against the full Athletics reference universe of 308 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1978–1996 with 19 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1985, 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 world records set 1, world record in centimetres 1797, world championship medals 1, us titles 6.
Immediately ahead sits Ingrid Kristiansen on 87.8, a gap of 0.1 points. Directly behind is Faith Kipyegon on 89.5. 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.
Willie Banks GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Banks stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Athletics cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1985. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity86/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 18 years of competition and 19 recorded seasons. Scored 86/100.
- Honours82/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 82/100.
- Statistics92/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 92/100.
Top Banks comparisons
Willie Banks — frequently asked
- Is Willie Banks the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Willie Banks ranks 49th in Athletics with a GOAT Score of 87.7, behind Usain Bolt on 93.2.
- What is Willie Banks's GOAT Score?
- 87.7 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 86 (20%), Honours 82 (20%), Statistics 92 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Willie Banks rank all time?
- 519th of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 49th within Athletics.
- Willie Banks vs Ingrid Kristiansen: who ranks higher?
- Ingrid Kristiansen, on 87.8 against Willie Banks's 87.7 — a margin of 0.1 points.