I dunno about this... What do we call the people who participate in sports? Athletes. I associate athleticism with superior physical conditioning and stamina and things like that, and for something to be considered a legitimate sport it seems to me it should require athleticism. You can, for instance, be a smoker and drinker and 50 pounds overweight and be a world class curler, so curling's not a sport, it's recreation and entertainment. For the participants. Watching it I find about as exciting as watching paint dry. I'd put golf in that category too. And billiards, bowling, lawn bowling, skeet shooting, dressage (the horse is the athlete there, not the rider), darts, archery, bobsledding, luge, ah the list is endless.