Who is better, Lewis or Nurmi?
Carl Lewis leads with a GOAT score of 93.1 against 92.1 for Paavo Nurmi — a gap of 1.0 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Lewis vs Nurmi
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Carl Lewis above Paavo Nurmi: 93.1 vs 92.1. Carl Lewis leads on Longevity. Paavo Nurmi leads on Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
LewisWinner
93.1Lewis wins: Longevity
Nurmi
92.1Nurmi wins: Peak
Candidates
Locked to AthleticsShareable URL · /compare/carl-lewis-vs-paavo-nurmi
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Carl Lewis
93.1
Lewis leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Carl Lewis
2. Paavo Nurmi
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
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Carl Lewis5 seasons played · career day 2,55650 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇫🇮 Paavo Nurmi5 seasons played · career day 1,82621 major golds
-58.0% vs Lewis at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Lewis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29.96 | 69.95 |
| 🇫🇮 Nurmi | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 37 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | LewisRetired | NurmiRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic golds | 9 | 9 |
| World Championship golds | 8 | — |
| Olympic medals | 10 | 12 |
| World records | 3 | 22 |
| Long jump win streak | 65 | — |
| 100 m personal best | 9.86 | — |
| Golds at one Games | — | 5 |
| Unbeaten run (races) | — | 121 |
| Distances held records at | — | 8 |
| Dominance w25% | 93 | 93 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 95 |
| Longevity w20% | 92 | 86 |
| Honours w20% | 94 | 94 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Lewis93.1
Nurmi92.1
FAQ
Where does Nurmi beat Lewis?
Nurmi scores higher on peak. Lewis leads on longevity.
How is the Lewis vs Nurmi score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Lewis: 93.1, Nurmi: 92.1.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Lewis vs Nurmi. 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.