Sportsperson

A sportsperson, also known as sportsmen or sportswomen,Oxford Learner's Dictionary, Sportsman ; retrieved 2012-8-3. is a person who is involved in sports. It may mean someone who is known for the promotion of sport or athletic activities. "Prince Bertil, 84, Swedish Sportsman," New York Times. January 7, 1997; retrieved 2012-8-3.  

A sportsperson can be a man or a woman who is person trained to compete or interested in a sport involving physical strength, speed or endurance.  A sportsman is a player  in a sport; but the term also means someone who plays sport in a way that shows respect and fairness towards the opposing player or team.Cambridge Dictionaries Online, Sportsman; retrieved 2012-8-3. 

The term sportsman can also be used to describe a former competitor who continues to promote the sport in later years.  For example, Tsunekazu Takeda is a sportsman who competed in two Summer Olympic GamesSportsReference.com (SR/Olympics), Tsunekazu Takeda ; retrieved 2012-8-3. and who was the President of the Japanese Olympic CommitteeReuters.com,  "Olympics-Japan chief Takeda elected to IOC,"  July 27, 2012; retrieved 2012-8-3. before he was elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2012.Olympic.org,  "IOC Session votes on new members and Executive Board positions"; retrieved 2012-8-3. 

Sportspeople may be professionals or amateurs.Safesport.com,  "From Amateur to Professional Sportsman"; retrieved 2012-8-3.    Sportsmen and sportswomen often have particularly well-developed physiques obtained by extensive physical training and strict exercise accompanied by a strict dietary regimen, but term is also used more broadly.  For example, Hou Yifan was honored in 2011, as the best sportsperson of the year in a non-Olympic event.World Chess Federation, "Women's World Champion Yifan Hou - Sportsperson of the Year in China," 18 January 2011; retrieved 2012-8-3.

The term athlete may be used as a synonym for sportspeople in general, but the word  has strong connotations of people who compete in team sports, as contrasted with other sporting types such as horse riding and driving. For example, a fisherman may be called a sportsman, but not an athlete.  In British English (as well as other variants in the Commonwealth) athlete can also have a more specific meaning of people who compete in traditional athletics (track and field) events.

Olympic games
The term "World's Greatest Athlete" was first to describe the sportsman Jim Thorpe in the 1912 Summer Olympics at Stockholm in Sweden. Thorpe won the gold medal in the decathlon.  When King Gustav V of Sweden awarded Thorpe, he said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." 

The title of "World's Greatest Athlete" traditionally belongs to the world's top competitor in the decathlon (males) and heptathlon (females) in track and field.The decathlon consists of 10 events: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meters, 110 m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500 m. The heptathlon consists of seven events: the 100 m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meters, long jump, javelin, and 800 meters. These competitions require an sportsman to possess the whole spectrum of athletic ability in order to be successful including speed, strength, coordination, jumping ability, and endurance.

Related pages
 Olympic games
 Arjuna Award
 Sportsmanship

References