The Elite Athlete

Elite is one of the most overused and least defined words in sport and exercise medicine (SEM), and defining it precisely changes both research and clinical practice.

A national team athlete, a well-drilled club player and a highly trained recreational runner may all be called elite in different papers, which makes evidence hard to apply. Clinically, the elite athlete is at once a patient, a contracted performer and a public figure, and the clinician works inside a system with competing interests.