Who is better, Gebrselassie or Nurmi?
Paavo Nurmi leads with a GOAT score of 92.1 against 91.9 for Haile Gebrselassie — a gap of 0.2 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Gebrselassie vs Nurmi
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Paavo Nurmi above Haile Gebrselassie: 92.1 vs 91.9. Paavo Nurmi leads on Dominance, Peak, Honours. Haile Gebrselassie leads on Longevity, Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
NurmiWinner
92.1Nurmi wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours
Gebrselassie
91.9Gebrselassie wins: Longevity, Statistics
Candidates
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Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇫🇮 Paavo Nurmi
92.1
Nurmi leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Paavo Nurmi
2. Haile Gebrselassie
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. 🇪🇹 Haile Gebrselassie5 seasons played · career day 2,1917,874 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇫🇮 Paavo Nurmi5 seasons played · career day 1,82621 major golds
-99.7% vs Gebrselassie at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇪🇹 Gebrselassie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,589 | 4,740 | 12,582.11 |
| 🇫🇮 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 | GebrselassieRetired | NurmiRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic golds | 2 | 9 |
| World Championship golds | 4 | — |
| World records | 27 | 22 |
| 10,000 m best (s) | 1,565.11 | — |
| Marathon best (s) | 7,439 | — |
| Major marathon wins | 8 | — |
| Olympic medals | — | 12 |
| Golds at one Games | — | 5 |
| Unbeaten run (races) | — | 121 |
| Distances held records at | — | 8 |
| Dominance w25% | 90 | 93 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 95 |
| Longevity w20% | 94 | 86 |
| Honours w20% | 91 | 94 |
| Statistics w15% | 93 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Nurmi92.1
Gebrselassie91.9
FAQ
Where does Gebrselassie beat Nurmi?
Gebrselassie scores higher on statistics, longevity. Nurmi leads on peak, dominance, honours.
How is the Gebrselassie vs Nurmi score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Gebrselassie: 91.9, Nurmi: 92.1.
What do you think?
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