Who is better, Karlsson or Waldner?
Jan-Ove Waldner leads with a GOAT score of 94.1 against 84.8 for Kristian Karlsson — a gap of 9.3 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Karlsson vs Waldner
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Jan-Ove Waldner above Kristian Karlsson: 94.1 vs 84.8. Jan-Ove Waldner leads on Dominance, Longevity, Peak.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
WaldnerWinner
94.1Waldner wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Karlsson
84.8Karlsson wins: no category outright
Candidates
Locked to Table TennisShareable URL · /compare/kristian-karlsson-vs-waldner
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇸🇪 Jan-Ove Waldner
94.1
Waldner leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Jan-Ove Waldner
2. Kristian Karlsson
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
Through age 22 · Form index per season
1. 🇸🇪 Jan-Ove Waldner3 titles
1 season by age 22 · 3 per season
Setting the pace at age 22
No verified birth date for Karlsson — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 22, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | KarlssonActive | WaldnerRetired |
|---|---|---|
| World Championship medals | 2 | — |
| European titles | 1 | 3 |
| Swedish titles | 5 | — |
| Olympic appearances | 3 | — |
| World Tour medals | 6 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 1 |
| World singles titles | — | 2 |
| World Cup titles | — | 1 |
| Olympic medals | — | 2 |
| Seasons at elite level | — | 30 |
| Dominance w25% | 80 | 93 |
| Peak w20% | 88 | 97 |
| Longevity w20% | 86 | 98 |
| Honours w20% | 84 | 90 |
| Statistics w15% | 88 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Waldner94.1
Karlsson84.8
FAQ
Where does Karlsson beat Waldner?
Karlsson does not lead any of the five categories; Waldner is ahead or level on all of them.
How is the Karlsson vs Waldner score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Karlsson: 84.8, Waldner: 94.1.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Karlsson vs Waldner. 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.