Powell vs Mota
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Mota wins: Dominance, Longevity, Honours
Powell wins: Peak, Statistics
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Mota leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Olympic marathon champion in 1988 with three European titles.
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| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Powell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 🇵🇹 Mota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
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.
| Metric | PowellRetired | MotaRetired |
|---|---|---|
| World record in metres | 8.95 | — |
| World Championship golds | 2 | 1 |
| Olympic silver medals | 2 | — |
| Years the world record has stood | 34 | — |
| US national titles | 4 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 1 |
| European golds | — | 3 |
| Marathon wins | — | 14 |
| Marathon best (min) | — | 143.44 |
| Dominance w25% | 86 | 88 |
| Peak w20% | 96 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 78 | 84 |
| Honours w20% | 84 | 90 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 88 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
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