Who is better, Barna or Waldner?
Jan-Ove Waldner leads with a GOAT score of 94.1 against 93.6 for Viktor Barna — a gap of 0.5 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Barna vs Waldner
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Jan-Ove Waldner above Viktor Barna: 94.1 vs 93.6. Jan-Ove Waldner leads on Longevity, Peak. Viktor Barna leads on Honours, Statistics, Dominance.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
WaldnerWinner
94.1Waldner wins: Peak, Longevity
Barna
93.6Barna wins: Dominance, Honours, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to Table TennisShareable URL · /compare/viktor-barna-vs-waldner
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇸🇪 Jan-Ove Waldner
94.1
Waldner leads in 2 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Jan-Ove Waldner
2. Viktor Barna
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
Through age 22 · Form index per season
1. 🇸🇪 Jan-Ove Waldner3 titles
1 season by age 22 · 3 per season
Setting the pace at age 22
No verified birth date for Barna — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 22, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | BarnaRetired | WaldnerRetired |
|---|---|---|
| World singles titles | 5 | 2 |
| World titles in all events | 22 | — |
| World team titles | 8 | — |
| English Open titles | 5 | — |
| Seasons at the top | 12 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 1 |
| World Cup titles | — | 1 |
| Olympic medals | — | 2 |
| European titles | — | 3 |
| Seasons at elite level | — | 30 |
| Dominance w25% | 94 | 93 |
| Peak w20% | 96 | 97 |
| Longevity w20% | 88 | 98 |
| Honours w20% | 96 | 90 |
| Statistics w15% | 94 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Waldner94.1
Barna93.6
FAQ
Where does Barna beat Waldner?
Barna scores higher on dominance, honours, statistics. Waldner leads on peak, longevity.
How is the Barna vs Waldner score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Barna: 93.6, Waldner: 94.1.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Barna vs Waldner. 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.