Who is better, Thugwane or Ovett?
Josia Thugwane leads with a GOAT score of 83.5 against 83.4 for Steve Ovett — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Thugwane vs Ovett
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Josia Thugwane above Steve Ovett: 83.5 vs 83.4. Josia Thugwane leads on Peak. Steve Ovett leads on Longevity, Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
ThugwaneWinner
83.5Thugwane wins: Peak
Ovett
83.4Ovett wins: Longevity, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to AthleticsShareable URL · /compare/josia-thugwane-vs-steve-ovett
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇿🇦 Josia Thugwane
83.5
Thugwane leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Josia Thugwane
2. Steve Ovett
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. 🇿🇦 Josia Thugwane5 seasons played · career day 1,825265 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇬🇧 Steve Ovett5 seasons played · career day 2,19012 major golds
-95.5% vs Thugwane at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇿🇦 Thugwane | 0 | 0 | 35 | 79 | 265 | 621 |
| 🇬🇧 Ovett | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 26 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | ThugwaneRetired | OvettRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic gold medals | 1 | — |
| Marathon personal best in seconds | 7,642 | — |
| National titles | 3 | — |
| Olympic marathons contested | 2 | — |
| Marathon wins | 5 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 1 |
| World records | — | 5 |
| European titles | — | 1 |
| Commonwealth golds | — | 1 |
| Mile best (sec) | — | 228.8 |
| Dominance w25% | 82 | 82 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 90 |
| Longevity w20% | 78 | 80 |
| Honours w20% | 80 | 80 |
| Statistics w15% | 84 | 86 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Thugwane83.5
Ovett83.4
FAQ
Where does Ovett beat Thugwane?
Ovett scores higher on statistics, longevity. Thugwane leads on peak.
How is the Thugwane vs Ovett score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Thugwane: 83.5, Ovett: 83.4.
What do you think?
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