Who is better, Atkins or Budd?
Joanna Atkins leads with a GOAT score of 79.1 against 78.7 for Zola Budd — a gap of 0.4 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Atkins vs Budd
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Joanna Atkins above Zola Budd: 79.1 vs 78.7. Joanna Atkins leads on Honours, Statistics, Longevity. Zola Budd leads on Dominance, Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
AtkinsWinner
79.1Atkins wins: Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Budd
78.7Budd wins: Dominance, Peak
Candidates
Locked to AthleticsShareable URL · /compare/joanna-atkins-vs-zola-budd
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Joanna Atkins
79.1
Atkins leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Joanna Atkins
2. Zola Budd
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. 🇿🇦 Zola Budd5 seasons played · career day 1,825436 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Joanna Atkins5 seasons played · career day 1,825353 major golds
-19.0% vs Budd at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Atkins | 0 | 0 | 50 | 110 | 353 | 534 |
| 🇿🇦 Budd | 0 | 0 | 78 | 170 | 436 | 682 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | AtkinsRetired | BuddRetired |
|---|---|---|
| World relay gold medals | 1 | — |
| NCAA titles | 2 | — |
| Personal best (400m) | 50.5 | — |
| United States national medals | 2 | — |
| World Championship appearances | 1 | — |
| World Cross Country golds | — | 2 |
| World records set | — | 2 |
| World record 5000 m | — | 14.481 |
| Olympic Games contested | — | 2 |
| World junior records | — | 3 |
| Dominance w25% | 74 | 78 |
| Peak w20% | 86 | 88 |
| Longevity w20% | 74 | 72 |
| Honours w20% | 80 | 76 |
| Statistics w15% | 84 | 80 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Atkins79.1
Budd78.7
FAQ
Where does Budd beat Atkins?
Budd scores higher on peak, dominance. Atkins leads on honours, statistics, longevity.
How is the Atkins vs Budd score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Atkins: 79.1, Budd: 78.7.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Atkins vs Budd. 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.