The 10 Greatest Athletics Women's Field Athletes of All Time, Ranked
Who is the greatest athletics women's field athlete of all time? We ranked every legend across five criteria — Statistics, Peak Performance, Longevity, Cultural Impact, and Strength of Competition — to produce a definitive GOAT Score. Here are the results.
| # | Athlete | GOAT Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jackie Joyner-Kersee | 8.90 |
| 2 | Yelena Isinbayeva | 7.36 |
| 3 | Anita Włodarczyk | 6.98 |
| 4 | Yulimar Rojas | 6.83 |
| 5 | Valerie Adams | 6.48 |
| 6 | Barbora Špotáková | 5.52 |
| 7 | Stefka Kostadinova | 5.46 |
| 8 | Heike Drechsler | 4.77 |
| 9 | Brittney Reese | 3.94 |
| 10 | Tamara Press | 1.45 |
Jackie Joyner-Kersee is widely considered the greatest female athlete of all time, a heptathlete and long jumper who could have won Olympic gold in either event separately. Her heptathlon world record...
- ★3 Olympic gold medals
- ★Heptathlon WR 7,291 points (still stands)
- ★4 consecutive World Championship golds
Why #1: Tops the rankings thanks to elite cultural impact. SI Female Athlete of 20th Century, multi-event pioneer
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Yelena Isinbayeva broke the pole vault world record 28 times — more than any athlete in any field event in history. Two Olympic golds (2004, 2008), one World Championship gold, and a career that trans...
- ★2 Olympic golds (2004, 2008)
- ★28 world records (most in any field event)
- ★WR 5.06m indoor
Why #2: Falls just behind Jackie Joyner-Kersee but excels in statistics. 2 Oly golds, 2 WC golds = 4 total golds, 28 WRs — most WRs in any field event ever
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Anita Włodarczyk is the most dominant hammer thrower in history, male or female. Three consecutive Olympic golds (2012, 2016, 2020), four World Championship golds, and a world record of 82.98m that se...
- ★3 consecutive Olympic golds (2012-2020)
- ★4 World Championship golds
- ★WR 82.98m (still standing)
Why #3: Falls just behind Yelena Isinbayeva but excels in statistics. 3 Oly golds, 4 WC golds = 7 total golds, 5 WRs — dominant haul
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Yulimar Rojas redefined the women's triple jump, pushing the world record to 15.74m at the Tokyo Olympics — a jump so far beyond the competition it seemed to belong to a different event. Four World Ch...
- ★1 Olympic gold (2020)
- ★4 World Championship golds
- ★Triple jump WR 15.74m (still standing)
Why #4: Falls just behind Anita Włodarczyk but excels in peak performance. TJ WR 15.74m at Tokyo Olympics, first over 15.50m+15.70m — untouchable margins
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Valerie Adams dominated women's shot put for over a decade with a consistency that bordered on monotonous — for everyone except her. Two Olympic golds, four consecutive World Championship golds (2007-...
- ★2 Olympic golds (2008, 2012)
- ★1 Olympic silver, 1 bronze
- ★4 consecutive World Championship golds
Why #5: Falls just behind Yulimar Rojas but excels in strength of competition. Modern SP, competitive with Ostapchuk (stripped), Carter, Schwanitz
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Barbora Špotáková threw the javelin farther than any woman in history, setting a world record of 72.28m that still stands. Two Olympic golds (2008, 2012), three World Championship golds, and a career ...
- ★2 Olympic golds (2008, 2012)
- ★3 World Championship golds
- ★Javelin WR 72.28m (still standing)
Why #6: Falls just behind Valerie Adams but excels in longevity. 2004-2020 (5 Olympics, 16 years), won gold after maternity leave — remarkable
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Stefka Kostadinova's high jump world record of 2.09m, set in Rome in 1987, has stood for 39 years — the longest-standing individual world record in women's athletics. The Bulgarian jumper won Olympic ...
- ★1 Olympic gold (1996)
- ★1 Olympic silver (1988)
- ★HJ WR 2.09m (1987, still standing)
Why #7: Falls just behind Barbora Špotáková but excels in peak performance. WR 2.09m has stood 39 YEARS — longest-standing record in women's field athletics
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Heike Drechsler won Olympic long jump gold in 1992 and then again in 2000 — eight years and a reunification apart. The East German-turned-German jumper had one of the most remarkable careers in field ...
- ★2 Olympic long jump golds (1992, 2000)
- ★Olympic golds 8 years apart
- ★2 World Championship golds
Why #8: Falls just behind Stefka Kostadinova but excels in longevity. 1983-2004 (20+ years!), 5 Olympics, golds 8 years apart — extraordinary span
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Brittney Reese won four consecutive World Championship long jump golds (2009-2013) and an Olympic gold at London 2012, establishing herself as the most dominant female long jumper of the modern era. T...
- ★1 Olympic gold (2012)
- ★1 Olympic silver (2016)
- ★4 consecutive World Championship golds
Why #9: Falls just behind Heike Drechsler but excels in strength of competition. Modern LJ with Bartoletta, Mihambo — deepest female field event
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Tamara Press dominated women's shot put and discus in the early 1960s, winning three Olympic golds across two Games (1960, 1964). Together with her sister Irina, she formed the most formidable sibling...
- ★3 Olympic golds (SP 1960/1964, Discus 1964)
- ★1 Olympic silver (Discus 1960)
- ★Dominated SP and Discus simultaneously
Why #10: Falls just behind Brittney Reese but excels in statistics. 3 Oly golds, 1S across 2 throwing events, pre-WC — strong but limited by era
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How Rankings Change Under Different Philosophies
GOAT rankings depend on what you value. Here is the top 3 under each preset:
Default
- 1.Jackie Joyner-Kersee8.90
- 2.Yelena Isinbayeva7.36
- 3.Anita Włodarczyk6.98
Record Breaker
- 1.Jackie Joyner-Kersee9.03
- 2.Yelena Isinbayeva7.80
- 3.Anita Włodarczyk7.54
Olympic Icon
- 1.Jackie Joyner-Kersee8.81
- 2.Yelena Isinbayeva7.29
- 3.Anita Włodarczyk6.96
Our Methodology
Every score is backed by data. Learn how we evaluate athletics women's field athletes across our five criteria.
Read the full methodology →Create Your Own Rankings
Disagree with our ranking? Adjust the weight sliders to build your own GOAT formula.
Interactive Athletics Women's Field Rankings