Who is better, Owens or Thiam?
Jesse Owens leads with a GOAT score of 86.3 against 86.3 for Nafissatou Thiam — a gap of 0.0 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Owens vs Thiam
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently scores Jesse Owens and Nafissatou Thiam level at 86.3. Jesse Owens leads on Peak, Dominance, Honours. Nafissatou Thiam leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
OwensWinner
86.3Owens wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours
Thiam
86.3Thiam wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to AthleticsShareable URL · /compare/jesse-owens-vs-nafissatou-thiam
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Jesse Owens
86.3
Owens leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Jesse Owens
2. Nafissatou Thiam
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. 🇧🇪 Nafissatou Thiam5 seasons played · career day 3,28633,966 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Jesse Owens5 seasons played · career day 2,19151.2 major golds
-99.8% vs Thiam at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Owens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.3 | 30.7 | 61.6 |
| 🇧🇪 Thiam | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6,508 | 33,966 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | OwensRetired | ThiamActive |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic golds | 4 | 3 |
| World records set | 6 | — |
| NCAA titles | 8 | — |
| Long jump world record years | 25 | — |
| 100 m personal best | 10.2 | — |
| Long jump best (m) | 8.13 | — |
| World Championship golds | — | 2 |
| European golds | — | 2 |
| Heptathlon best | — | 7,013 |
| World indoor golds | — | 2 |
| High jump best (m) | — | 2.02 |
| Dominance w25% | 90 | 86 |
| Peak w20% | 97 | 90 |
| Longevity w20% | 66 | 80 |
| Honours w20% | 90 | 88 |
| Statistics w15% | 88 | 88 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Owens86.3
Thiam86.3
FAQ
Where does Thiam beat Owens?
Thiam scores higher on longevity. Owens leads on peak, dominance, honours.
How is the Owens vs Thiam score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Owens: 86.3, Thiam: 86.3.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Owens vs Thiam. 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.