Do you consider yourself an athlete? I conducted some research in a professional setting where I asked a group of middle-aged adults (all of whom I considered athletes) to tell me what makes someone an athlete and whether they consider themselves to be athletes. Their responses were interesting!
There were both similarities and differences in the way the participants responded. They were all involved in endurance sports and almost all had experiences levels that far surpassed that of beginners — in fact, a few were professional athletes. Across the board, their definition of “athlete” could be summarized as someone who takes an interest in one or more sports (I tend to agree). They were all very gracious in wanting to define this in an inclusive way that didn’t require a person to be perform at a certain level. In fact, they said people don’t even need to be interested in the competitive aspect of sports to be an athlete; it was more about showing an interest and showing up.
While all the participants agreed they were athletes, some were more reluctant to say it than others and even admitted being a little uncomfortable using the word “athlete” to describe themselves. On the opposite end of the spectrum, a few said they have always identified as being an athlete because they were involved with and enjoyed sports for their entire life. Most described feeling they needed to earn the title of “athlete” in their sport by reaching some milestone — which ranged from demonstrating their ability to be involved in more demanding events to the more traditional ideas of being a strong competitor and performing at the level they wanted to.
Some participants also had different ideas about which type of athlete they were…
“I’m an endurance athlete.”
“I’m an outdoor athlete.”
“I’m a polyathlete.” (I loved this one)
“I’m more of a social athlete.”
And a few said they preferred to identify with the sport that they felt most represented who they are or is the most demanding in terms of the skills needed…
“I’m a triathlete.”
“I’m an ultradistance runner.”
“I’m a mountaineer.”
“I’m a thru-hiker.”
The conversation around this one word turned out to be really interesting and I realized the entire study could have been just about that question. It made me wonder: “which type of athlete am I?” Well, I’m hard to pin down, but I lean towards “outdoor athlete,” with a competitive side that I bring out when I’m in the mood. I‘ve got a good amount of dirtbag in there with a dash of sophistication. Variety is the spice of life!
So, what type of athlete are you?