Mr Pig said:
I don't agree. There are a lot of Olympians who do very short-duration, muscle-specific sports that don't require anything like the same level of general fitness as a football player.
And then below them you've got sports like curling! Which is not a sport at all, but a game.
That's why I said 'many of them'.
I apply the label 'athlete' to people that participate in events that solely require you to propel yourself or a thing faster, further, higher than the other competitiors to win...a swimmer, a cyclist, a rower, a speed skater, a runner, a weightlifter, a discus thrower etc...rather than skill to put something somewhere specific even if the event is drawn out over 90 minutes...a footballer, an archer, a snooker player, a golfer, a cricketer etc.