Who is better, El Guerrouj or Zátopek?
Emil Zátopek leads with a GOAT score of 89.4 against 89.1 for Hicham El Guerrouj — a gap of 0.3 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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El Guerrouj vs Zátopek
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Emil Zátopek above Hicham El Guerrouj: 89.4 vs 89.1. Emil Zátopek leads on Longevity, Peak. Hicham El Guerrouj leads on Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
ZátopekWinner
89.4Zátopek wins: Peak, Longevity
El Guerrouj
89.1El Guerrouj wins: Statistics
Candidates
Locked to AthleticsShareable URL · /compare/el-guerrouj-vs-zatopek
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇨🇿 Emil Zátopek
89.4
Zátopek leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Emil Zátopek
2. Hicham El Guerrouj
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. 🇨🇿 Emil Zátopek5 seasons played · career day 3,2878,748 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇲🇦 Hicham El Guerrouj5 seasons played · career day 2,9211,042.8 major golds
-88.1% vs Zátopek at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇲🇦 El Guerrouj | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 212.37 | 1,251.86 |
| 🇨🇿 Zátopek | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,748 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | El GuerroujRetired | ZátopekRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic golds | 2 | 4 |
| World Championship golds | 4 | — |
| World records | 3 | 18 |
| 1500 m world record | 206 | — |
| Mile world record (s) | 223.13 | — |
| Undefeated 1500 m races | 86 | — |
| European golds | — | 5 |
| Olympic medals | — | 5 |
| Marathon golds | — | 1 |
| 10,000 m unbeaten run | — | 38 |
| Dominance w25% | 90 | 90 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 95 |
| Longevity w20% | 80 | 82 |
| Honours w20% | 90 | 90 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Zátopek89.4
El Guerrouj89.1
FAQ
Where does El Guerrouj beat Zátopek?
El Guerrouj scores higher on statistics. Zátopek leads on peak, longevity.
How is the El Guerrouj vs Zátopek score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. El Guerrouj: 89.1, Zátopek: 89.4.
What do you think?
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