Are All Olympic Competitors Athletes?

I was listening to a sports talk station in the car the other day (Ron's choice of station, not mine)  and was shocked to hear that the program moderator did not  consider Shaun White an athlete.  He called him an acrobat, and he would include ice skaters in the same category. I went to the dictionary to look up the definition of "athlete."   An athlete, according to Webster, is "a person trained in exercise, sports or games requiring physical strength, agility or stamina."  How could Shaun White not be considered an athlete?  From the call in listeners, they seemed split on whether snowboarding tricks or ice skating tricks were athletic!  My personal opinion is that the jumps and spins done by snowboarders and skaters are more athletic than  just about any other sport.  They take tremendous strength, timing, stamina and agility.  Many call in listeners were comparing the agility sports to basketball, and LeBron James.  Yes, LeBron is an incredible athlete, strong, great stamina and great agility.  He probably would have been good at any sport he chose.  I think Shaun White might also have been great at whatever sport he had chosen.

The radio moderator kept saying that Federer was one of the greatest athletes because he was good at tennis and soccer.  Had Shaun White chosen soccer or golf or tennis, he probably would have excelled at any of those, too.  Becoming a great athlete is much more than natural ability.  It is determination, hard work and a strong work ethic.  No one makes it to the Olympics without these traits.

Actually, if you think about it, it's much more likely that after 6 months of training that Shaun White would be better at tennis than Federer would be at flips and twists on the skateboard after the same amount of training.  The jumpers and spinners in all sports show so much body control it's hard to see how anyone could not call them athletes  Enjoy the rest of the Olympics.