Waitz vs Zátopek
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Zátopek wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours
Waitz wins: Longevity
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Zátopek leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories. Won the 5000 m, 10,000 m and marathon at the same Olympic Games.
Category breakdown
Season form · Major golds per season
Career timeline · Major golds 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 · Major golds per season| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇳🇴 Waitz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 🇨🇿 Zátopek | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,748 |
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.
| Metric | WaitzRetired | ZátopekRetired |
|---|---|---|
| New York Marathon wins | 9 | — |
| World Championship golds | 1 | — |
| Olympic medals | 1 | 5 |
| World cross country titles | 5 | — |
| Marathon world records | 4 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 4 |
| World records | — | 18 |
| European golds | — | 5 |
| Marathon golds | — | 1 |
| 10,000 m unbeaten run | — | 38 |
| Dominance w25% | 88 | 90 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 95 |
| Longevity w20% | 86 | 82 |
| Honours w20% | 86 | 90 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
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