Interesting article in the Telegraph on a study that compared Professional Gamers to that of other 'sports'; basically they don't. It can be summed up by saying that gamers are not 'athletes' but they may still be regarded as being 'sports wo/men'. So if Pro gamers are calling themselves "cyberathletes", or "eSports wo/man" they shouldn't be really be too surprised to find themselves being compared directly to athletes and sports wo/men of other disciplines, coming out of the process thusly;
"Telegraph" : One leading gamer in his twenties appeared to be slim and healthy with a physique similar to an endurance athlete. But tests revealed he in fact had the lung function and aerobic fitness of a heavy smoker in his sixties. Dr Micklewright blamed the gaming lifestyle of spending 10 hours a day in front a computer screen and warned youngsters against such a sedentary lifestyle
I can understand the use of the word "Sport" when referring to professional gamers, especially in the context of commercially (commercialised) competitive environments; individuals and teams battling against each other for prize monies, accolades, sponsorship deals and so on. But the traditional meaning of the word "athlete" doesn't really seem to reconcile itself with "competitive gaming"; the article infers a fudged and blurred definition of the two words so there is a sense that "athlete" and "sportswo/man" mean the same thing, they obviously don't - "sport", in this context, should refer to the competitive activity of the discipline itself rather than the individual participant, the "athlete" of other traditional pursuits, which seems to be a very controversial misappropriation. To missquote, "Redefining 'Sport'"? Hardly. Trying to redefine "athlete", most certainly and it's giving people headaches, or as the article suggests, giving gamers coronaries.
