athlete vs opponent

athlete

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

  • An exceptionally physically fit person. 

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

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

opponent

noun
  • One who opposes another physically (in a fight, sport, game, or competition). 

  • The participant who opens an academic debate by putting forward objections to a theological or philosophical thesis. 

  • One who opposes another; one who works or takes a position against someone or something; one who attempts to stop the progress of someone or something. 

  • One who opposes another in words (in a dispute, argument or controversy). 

  • One who is opposed or objects (to a policy, course of action or set of ideas). 

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