Who is an athlete? and what does is mean to be an athlete?

What does being an athlete mean?

It means valuing your training
Doing what you can to improve
Long nights (sometimes)
Early mornings (sometimes)
Showing up when others don’t
Recovering harder than anybody else
It means pushing your performance to achieve SOMETHING

What that something is, is less relevant
(Not irrelevant though)

You don’t need to be paid or going to the olympics to be an athlete

You just need to possess the qualities that represent one, and train like one

Even if you fall into “general population” that doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t an athlete, just train like one

What does being an athlete mean to you?