In my mind - no.

There are plenty of athletes that don’t do the work to become elite.

I guess I base it on built in abilities vs what one does with said abilities.

I understand the technical or official definition doesn’t agree… no matter how hard I was to train, no matter how many miles I rode - my peak VO2 max wouldn’t reach the off the shelf numbers of a natural born athlete.

is: "I play real sports. Not trying to be the best at exercising."
Kenny Powers!!