What is an athlete?

Websters defines the noun athlete thus:
"a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina"

I do not disagree with that definition, but I view the definition more broadly.

To me an athlete is anyone who has the courage to stand at the starting line of an event, anyone who dares to try to compete - be it against the clock, against another person, or against another team, anyone who dares to challenge their body to do more than it ever has before even without competition.

There can be a tendency these days I believe, in many different aspects of our physical lives, to look at the professional, the elite, the cream of the crop and say "that is an athlete". Without doubt, those are athletes and they are elite athletes whose skill, determination, and talent must be respected. But at the same time, do we not respect those that may not have the raw genetic ability to be in the top echelon of their sport? I don't know that we do, but I'm also not convinced that we do not. There are times in which I have seen people not respect the effort that an amateur puts into trying in any particular physical endeavor. This is certainly not universal behavior. But even if you look at the way we look at professional athletes, there can be a tendency to respect only the elite. Ever heard a joke or derisive comment come from the stands or from spectators about someone riding the bench?

I wonder if this doesn't discourage people from trying in their own lives because they fear the ridicule, rejection, or humiliation of failure. I must confess that I struggle sometimes when I go out for a run. I see in my mind that people are doing the laugh and point routine as I struggle up a hill, or as a I struggle through a mile, or as I can only run for a minute or two before I take a walk break. I see that in my mind, and I set a bar that means that I can't be an athlete. I am lucky to be surrounded by the most supportive people that I have ever met and I'm in a sport that seems to bring out the best in people. I've noticed that my coach always talks about her athletes, no matter the skill, ability, or where they place. She even called me an athlete when I could barely run at all. So it made me think. Is that small gesture something that helps me get through each workout, to dare to sign up for a race knowing that I'll be at the back of the pack? I think it does certainly have something to do with it. I no longer feel fear when I come to a group event.

Even beyond my coach, everyone that I have done group work with has been incredibly supportive even though I'm usually the last one in on the run, or the slowest on the bike. I hear positive words from them as they pass me by. I remember one race, my first, in which several of the people who finished before me actually ran back along the course to run with me on the way back in. That meant so much to me on that race because I was on the edge of becoming discouraged. Something I have returned the favor on now in a later race.

Does this have anything to do with being called an athlete? Maybe or maybe not. But what I think it shows is that there is an immense amount of respect in endurance athletics for each and every athlete of any skill level. Watch the replays of triathlon when it's on TV. The crowds cheer on the last athlete just as much sometimes as the first athlete that crosses the line. I've been told, and I've seen on TV, the professionals who win or place highly at the Ironman World Championships coming back to the finish line to cheer on the age groupers that are struggling to come in and finish. In what other sport do you see that level of sportsmanship? I believe it's because in these sports, we have a different definition of athlete and we respect each and every one of them.

I'm surrounded by athletes who have immense amount of skill, talent, and raw ability. People who can win age groups at high level triathlons, qualify for Kona, win events, run like the wind, swim like a dolphin, or bike like a supersonic missile. Each of every one of them deserves the title of athlete (or elite athlete) and deserves an immense amount of respect for what they can do and for the hard work and training that they do to get there. Let no one or nothing take away from their accomplishments, talent, or ability. The thing is, every one of them I've encountered, has offered me, who certainly doesn't have that level of talent or ability, a level of respect as well far beyond what I feel that I have deserved.

So, I leave you with this final thought. An athlete is not just the elite athletes who stand on the podium, it is anyone who dares to try, who dares to improve themselves, or who just offers up their best effort in an athletic endeavor. If you're out there and struggling with self-image, self-doubt, or fear as you don't know if you're really supposed to be doing this. Remember, you are an athlete. Carry the title proudly. Go enter a race, go toe the starting line, go push yourself. You can do it, and you deserve the respect for trying that any athlete gets in this sport.

If this bison can be called an athlete, so can you!

"Watching proud and accomplished athletes battle in the fact of odds that are virtually hopeless is one of the more stirring sights in all of sports." - "What Kind of Day Has It Been?", Sports Night