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Balcha vs Fosbury

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
BalchaWinner
76.5

Balcha wins: Longevity

Fosbury
75.5

Fosbury wins: Dominance, Peak, Statistics

Candidates
Locked to Athletics

Shareable URL · /compare/kebede-balcha-vs-dick-fosbury

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇪🇹 Kebede Balcha
76.5

Balcha leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories. Three-time Montreal Marathon winner and a World Championship silver medallist in 1983.

1. Kebede Balcha
76.5
2. Dick Fosbury
75.5

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
1. 🇪🇹 Kebede Balcha5 seasons played · career day 1,826349 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Dick Fosbury5 seasons played · career day 2,55610.6 major golds
-97.0% vs Balcha at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇪🇹 Balcha0055117265707
🇺🇸 Fosbury00006.1914.79

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.

MetricBalchaRetiredFosburyRetired
World Championship medals1
Montreal Marathon wins3
Marathon personal best2.086
Marathon victories6
Years at the top level14
Olympic golds1
Olympic records1
NCAA titles1
Best jump (m)2.24
Technique named after him1
Dominance w25%7078
Peak w20%8492
Longevity w20%8054
Honours w20%7474
Statistics w15%7680

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Balcha76.5
Fosbury75.5
The people
Balcha
Fosbury

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Make your case for Balcha vs Fosbury. 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.

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