GOAT Index

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Ma Long: the case for the GOAT

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    Ma Long: the case for the GOAT

    China · Born 20 October 1988, Anshan, Liaoning, China · Career 2004–2024 (international)

    Chinese right-hander with a devastating forehand, near-flawless technique and tactical maturity, widely called 'the Dragon' and the benchmark of modern table tennis.

    Career highlights

    Why Ma Long could be the GOAT

    Ma Long is the only man to win Olympic singles gold twice, completing a double career Grand Slam, and his six Olympic golds are a table tennis record. He won three straight world singles titles in a fiercely competitive Chinese team and spent 64 months at No. 1, including 34 in a row. No player has combined dominance and longevity like him.

    What fans say

    Ma Long is #1 of 18 in the fan ranking, with a 4–0 head-to-head record from 56 Men's table tennis votes. See the full Men's table tennis GOAT ranking

    Ma Long head to head

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

    One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.

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    Photo credits

      Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under the licenses listed. Each links to its source page.