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Hackett vs Salnikov

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
SalnikovWinner
87.1

Salnikov wins: Dominance, Peak, Statistics

Hackett
86.2

Hackett wins: Longevity

Candidates
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Shareable URL · /compare/grant-hackett-vs-vladimir-salnikov

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇷🇺 Vladimir Salnikov
87.1

Salnikov leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. First man under 15 minutes for 1500m freestyle, with four Olympic golds.

1. Vladimir Salnikov
87.1
2. Grant Hackett
86.2

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 season
1. 🇦🇺 Grant Hackett5 seasons played · career day 2,1914,409 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇷🇺 Vladimir Salnikov5 seasons played · career day 2,19114 major golds
-99.7% vs Hackett at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇦🇺 Hackett0008902,6557,037.56
🇷🇺 Salnikov0001821

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricHackettRetiredSalnikovRetired
Olympic golds34
World Championship golds10
World records212
1500 m best (s)874.56
Olympic medals7
Unbeaten years at 1500 m10
World titles4
European titles5
1500m best (min)14.9
Dominance w25%8488
Peak w20%9092
Longevity w20%8480
Honours w20%8686
Statistics w15%8890

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Salnikov87.1
Hackett86.2
The people
Hackett
Salnikov

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Make your case for Hackett vs Salnikov. 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.

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