The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word MILER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
M
I
L
E
R
More clues leading to the result MILER
- Sender of message dispatching a runner
- Someone beaming, heading off track athlete?
- Runner in early event not starting back
- Athlete who looks pleased missing the start
- Athlete who looks happy to lose the lead?
- Athlete who looks happy, though not first
- Half-hearted American playwright’s competitor, in long run
- Sportsperson who runs part of league
- One on track to be happy person, no leader
- Runner back in preliminaries
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Sportsperson" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case sportsperson = miler.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does MILER mean?
MILER noun- (often in combination) An athlete or a horse who specializes in running races of one mile, or a specified number of miles.
- (in combination) A race whose length is the specified number of miles.