Athletics

This is not terribly "PC" in the year of the London Olympics...

But when exactly did the word athlete get misappropriated to mean: "a sports person"?

Athlete used to mean "someone who partakes in athletics", which was simple enough... But now footballers, cyclists all sorts seem to be described as athletes. Athletic sure? That word always meant someone who was built a certain way, but not an athlete. So when was it changed and who changed it?

Are There any limits to the extend of athletes? Golf? I suppose so. Archers? Darts players? Snooker players? Pool players? Chess players?

how about we redefine the word "quadruped" include any sort of animal with any number of legs? Like a gorilla, a bird? A snake? A caterpillar?

We could use Metal to mean any kind of material which is hard? Wood, glass plastic... Or how about just any kind of material?.... Cotton, paper?

Why oh why couldn't the word "athlete" just have been left to just mean someone who does athletics.