Who is better, Waitz or Defar?
Grete Waitz leads with a GOAT score of 88.3 against 88.3 for Meseret Defar — a gap of 0.0 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Waitz vs Defar
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently scores Grete Waitz and Meseret Defar level at 88.3. Grete Waitz leads on Longevity. Meseret Defar leads on Honours.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
WaitzWinner
88.3Waitz wins: Longevity
Defar
88.3Defar wins: Honours
Candidates
Locked to AthleticsShareable URL · /compare/grete-waitz-vs-meseret-defar
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇳🇴 Grete Waitz
88.3
Waitz leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Grete Waitz
2. Meseret Defar
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. 🇪🇹 Meseret Defar5 seasons played · career day 2,92171.5 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇳🇴 Grete Waitz5 seasons played · career day 3,28615 major golds
-79.0% vs Defar at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇳🇴 Waitz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 🇪🇹 Defar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.73 | 85.75 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | WaitzRetired | DefarRetired |
|---|---|---|
| New York Marathon wins | 9 | — |
| World Championship golds | 1 | 2 |
| Olympic medals | 1 | — |
| World cross country titles | 5 | — |
| Marathon world records | 4 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 2 |
| World indoor titles | — | 5 |
| World records | — | 5 |
| 5000m best (min) | — | 14.29 |
| Dominance w25% | 88 | 88 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 86 | 84 |
| Honours w20% | 86 | 88 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Waitz88.3
Defar88.3
FAQ
Where does Defar beat Waitz?
Defar scores higher on honours. Waitz leads on longevity.
How is the Waitz vs Defar score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Waitz: 88.3, Defar: 88.3.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Waitz vs Defar. 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.