Carey vs Thorpe
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Carey wins: Dominance, Peak, Statistics
Thorpe wins: Longevity, Honours
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Carey leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Won both backstroke titles at the 1984 Olympics and set five world records.
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
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Carey | 0 | 0 | 50 | 116 | 383 | 581 |
| 🇦🇺 Thorpe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 35 |
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 | CareyRetired | ThorpeRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic gold medals | 3 | — |
| World records set | 5 | — |
| World Championship titles | 1 | — |
| Pan Pacific titles | 2 | — |
| US titles | 17 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 5 |
| Olympic medals | — | 9 |
| World Championship golds | — | 11 |
| World records | — | 13 |
| Commonwealth golds | — | 10 |
| 400 m freestyle best (s) | — | 220.06 |
| Dominance w25% | 88 | 86 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 70 | 74 |
| Honours w20% | 86 | 88 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 88 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
What do you think?
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