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Holmes vs Barbosa

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
HolmesWinner
83.6

Holmes wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours

Barbosa
81.9

Barbosa wins: Longevity, Statistics

Candidates
Locked to Athletics

Shareable URL · /compare/kelly-holmes-vs-jose-luiz-barbosa

Time range

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

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇬🇧 Kelly Holmes
83.6

Holmes leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Won the 800 m and 1500 m double at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

1. Kelly Holmes
83.6
2. José Luíz Barbosa
81.9

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. 🇬🇧 Kelly Holmes5 seasons played · career day 1,825394 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇧🇷 José Luíz Barbosa5 seasons played · career day 2,19128 major golds
-92.9% vs Holmes at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇬🇧 Holmes0070148394706
🇧🇷 Barbosa00032052

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.

MetricHolmesRetiredBarbosaRetired
Olympic gold medals2
Olympic medals3
World Championship medals31
Commonwealth Games golds2
British record 800 m1.563
World indoor titles1
Pan American golds2
800 m personal best in seconds103.05
Olympic appearances3
Dominance w25%8276
Peak w20%9490
Longevity w20%7684
Honours w20%8476
Statistics w15%8286

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Holmes83.6
Barbosa81.9
The people
Holmes
Barbosa

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Make your case for Holmes vs Barbosa. 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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