Who is better, Ma Lin or Ma Long?
Ma Long leads with a GOAT score of 97.3 against 86.4 for Ma Lin — a gap of 10.9 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Ma Long above Ma Lin: 97.3 vs 86.4. Ma Long leads on Dominance, Longevity, Honours.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →Ma Long wins: Dominance, Peak, Longevity, Honours, Statistics
Ma Lin wins: no category outright
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Ma Long leads in 5 of 5 weighted categories.
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Ma Lin — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | Ma LinRetired | Ma LongActive |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic golds | 3 | 6 |
| World Cup titles | 4 | 3 |
| World Championship team golds | 5 | — |
| Olympic singles titles | 1 | — |
| Career ranking weeks at No. 1 | 30 | — |
| World singles titles | — | 3 |
| Olympic medals | — | 6 |
| Months at world No. 1 | — | 64 |
| Grand Slam completed | — | 1 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 99 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 99 |
| Longevity w20% | 80 | 92 |
| Honours w20% | 88 | 99 |
| Statistics w15% | 86 | 97 |
Ma Long leads with a GOAT score of 97.3 against 86.4 for Ma Lin — a gap of 10.9 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
Ma Lin does not lead any of the five categories; Ma Long is ahead or level on all of them.
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Ma Lin: 86.4, Ma Long: 97.3.
Make your case for Ma Lin vs Ma Long. 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.