Tergat vs Defar
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Tergat wins: Longevity
Defar wins: Honours, Statistics
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Tergat leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Five straight world cross country titles and a 2:04:55 marathon world record in 2003.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇰🇪 Tergat | 0 | 0 | 60 | 134 | 314 | 768 |
| 🇪🇹 Defar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.73 | 85.75 |
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 | TergatRetired | DefarRetired |
|---|---|---|
| World Cross Country golds | 5 | — |
| Olympic silver medals | 2 | — |
| World record marathon | 2.046 | — |
| World Half Marathon titles | 2 | — |
| Major marathon wins | 2 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 2 |
| World Championship golds | — | 2 |
| World indoor titles | — | 5 |
| World records | — | 5 |
| 5000m best (min) | — | 14.29 |
| Dominance w25% | 88 | 88 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 88 | 84 |
| Honours w20% | 86 | 88 |
| Statistics w15% | 88 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
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