Last week we posed the question asking what it will take for an athlete to be considered the GOAT in triathlon. There is not necessarily one metric that everyone will agree on for determining the GOAT.
At this point in time, though, it appears that there are two definitive choices for the male and female GOATs.
Women’s vote
- Flora Duffy – 64.4%
- Gwen Jorgensen – 18.3%
- Vanessa Fernandes – 8.7%
- Emma Snowsill – 6.7%
Neither Michellie Jones nor Emma Carney received more than 1% of the vote.
Duffy’s choice makes sense given she has the most world titles of any woman and has an Olympic gold medal. She also has done a lot to shape how the racing looks in the contemporary world of women’s elite triathlon.
That being said, recency also plays into Duffy’s favour. As the latest world and Olympic champion, her stellar achievements are at the forefront of most fans’ minds.
Jorgensen has more WTCS gold medals to her name (with 17) and arguably was more dominant in her prime than Duffy. That, though, is a tricky claim to back up.
Snowsill, too, can feel hard down by. Her three world titles and Olympic gold also come close to matching Duffy’s achievements. The bulk of her success came prior to the WTCS era and that might hurt her claim a little.
Of course, the choice of GOAT is a personal decision and each athlete could justifiably claim the mantle. Indeed, there are brilliant athletes that did not make the poll that could have a claim too.
With 2023 due to kick off, Duffy has a shot at a fifth world title this year and next year could potentially win a second Olympic gold. Were she to do that, she would most likely end the GOAT question for quite some time on the women’s side.
Men’s vote
- Alistair Brownlee – 63%
- Javier Gomez Noya – 36%
None of Mario Mola, Peter Robertson, Simon Whitfield and Simon Lessing received more than 1% of the votes.
With 22 WTCS golds, Brownlee has the most wins in the Series of any athlete. He is also the only athlete to defend an Olympic gold medal. At his peak, he was perhaps the greatest single day racer the sport has ever seen.
Gomez, on the other hand, has the most world titles of any athlete with five. He has an Olympic silver and was denied a shot at the Rio Olympics with injury. Indeed, in another world it would have been easy to see him also winning the Olympic title in 2008 such was his dominance that year.
With 40 WTCS medals, Gomez is also unmatched in his longevity.
The choice between Brownlee and Gomez essentially seems to come down to the factors one prioritises. While Gomez has proven himself a great single day racer time and again, Brownlee realistically beats him on that front.
However, Brownlee became notoriously brittle from an injury perspective over the course of his career which is why he finished with a solitary world title. Had he competed in the era prior to the WTCS, he likely would have gobbled up multiple world championships. Nevertheless, he did not quite sustain himself to the level Gomez did mainly due to injury.
Only one of Gomez’s world titles came at a single day championship (in 2008). At his other four wins, he repeatedly proved himself to be the best across a season.
If performance over a season is assigned more weight, then maybe Gomez trumps Brownlee.
Different people will approach the single day versus season conundrum in different ways. It is telling, though, that the debate over the male GOAT has effectively crystallised around the claims of two such contrasting athletes.
