Who is better, Alekna or Zátopek?
Emil Zátopek leads with a GOAT score of 89.4 against 89.1 for Virgilijus Alekna — a gap of 0.3 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
AthletesTeams
Alekna vs Zátopek
Shareable comparison — send this exact matchup to anyone.
Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Emil Zátopek above Virgilijus Alekna: 89.4 vs 89.1. Emil Zátopek leads on Peak, Dominance, Honours. Virgilijus Alekna leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
ZátopekWinner
89.4Zátopek wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours
Alekna
89.1Alekna wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to AthleticsShareable URL · /compare/virgilijus-alekna-vs-zatopek
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇨🇿 Emil Zátopek
89.4
Zátopek leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Emil Zátopek
2. Virgilijus Alekna
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 season1. 🇨🇿 Emil Zátopek5 seasons played · career day 3,2878,748 major golds
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇱🇹 Virgilijus Alekna5 seasons played · career day 1,8255 major golds
-99.9% vs Zátopek at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇱🇹 Alekna | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 15 |
| 🇨🇿 Zátopek | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,748 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | AleknaRetired | ZátopekRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic gold medals | 2 | — |
| World Championship golds | 2 | — |
| Olympic medals | 3 | 5 |
| Best throw in metres | 73.88 | — |
| Olympic Games contested | 5 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 4 |
| World records | — | 18 |
| European golds | — | 5 |
| Marathon golds | — | 1 |
| 10,000 m unbeaten run | — | 38 |
| Dominance w25% | 88 | 90 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 95 |
| Longevity w20% | 88 | 82 |
| Honours w20% | 88 | 90 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Zátopek89.4
Alekna89.1
FAQ
Where does Alekna beat Zátopek?
Alekna scores higher on longevity. Zátopek leads on peak, dominance, honours.
How is the Alekna vs Zátopek score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Alekna: 89.1, Zátopek: 89.4.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Alekna vs Zátopek. 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.