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Nurmi vs Sedykh

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
NurmiWinner
92.1

Nurmi wins: Dominance, Honours

Sedykh
91.5

Sedykh wins: Peak, Statistics

Candidates
Locked to Athletics

Shareable URL · /compare/paavo-nurmi-vs-yuriy-sedykh

Time range

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

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇫🇮 Paavo Nurmi
92.1

Nurmi leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. The Flying Finn: nine Olympic golds and 22 official world records.

1. Paavo Nurmi
92.1
2. Yuriy Sedykh
91.5

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. 🇺🇦 Yuriy Sedykh5 seasons played · career day 2,556400.6 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇫🇮 Paavo Nurmi5 seasons played · career day 1,82621 major golds
-94.8% vs Sedykh at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇫🇮 Nurmi00371637
🇺🇦 Sedykh0000237.16570.94

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.

MetricNurmiRetiredSedykhRetired
Olympic golds92
Olympic medals12
World records226
Golds at one Games5
Unbeaten run (races)121
Distances held records at8
World Championship golds1
Best throw (m)86.74
European titles3
Dominance w25%9392
Peak w20%9596
Longevity w20%8686
Honours w20%9490
Statistics w15%9294

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Nurmi92.1
Sedykh91.5
The people
Nurmi
Sedykh

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