athlete vs candidate

athlete

noun
  • A participant in a group of sporting activities which includes track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking. 

  • An exceptionally physically fit person. 

  • A person who actively participates in physical sports, especially with great skill; a sportsperson. 

  • She's the first athlete in her sport to obtain a corporate sponsor. 

candidate

noun
  • A person who is running in an election. 

  • A participant in an examination. 

  • Something or somebody that may be suitable. 

  • A gene which may play a role in a given disease. 

  • A person who is applying for a job. 

verb
  • To make or name (something) a candidate (for use, for study as a next project, for investigation as a possible cause of something, etc). 

  • To stand as a candidate for an office, especially a religious one. 

How often have the words athlete and candidate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )