athletes

NOUN

person involved in sports

Synonyms

STRONGEST

animal competitor contestant jock player professional sport

STRONG

amateur challenger contender gorilla jockey shoulders

WEAK

games player iron person muscle person sportsperson superjock

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Heptathletes are considered primarily speed-oriented and decathletes more endurance-oriented, which is why athletes like Gray are unlikely to match their decathlon success and qualify for the Olympics in the heptathlon.

From New York Times • Jul. 6, 2021

Will they be specialists or generalists, sprinters or decathletes?

From The New Yorker • Feb. 4, 2019

Infamously, Reebok rolled out an ill-fated ad campaign before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in support of decathletes Dan O'Brien and Dave Johnson.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 19, 2016

He understands that even the best decathletes have strong events and weak ones.

From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 16, 2016

The organiser described them as "decathletes" rather than single-event specialists.

From BBC • Aug. 23, 2012