Who is better, Bolt or Smith?
Usain Bolt leads with a GOAT score of 93.2 against 83.6 for Tommie Smith — a gap of 9.6 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Bolt vs Smith
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Usain Bolt above Tommie Smith: 93.2 vs 83.6. Usain Bolt leads on Honours, Dominance, Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
BoltWinner
93.2Bolt wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Smith
83.6Smith wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to AthleticsShareable URL · /compare/bolt-vs-tommie-smith
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇯🇲 Usain Bolt
93.2
Bolt leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Usain Bolt
2. Tommie Smith
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Form index per season
1. 🇯🇲 Usain Bolt224 major golds
4 seasons by age 21 · 56 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Smith — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Bolt93.2
Smith83.6
FAQ
Where does Smith beat Bolt?
Smith does not lead any of the five categories; Bolt is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Bolt vs Smith score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Bolt: 93.2, Smith: 83.6.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Bolt vs Smith. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.