Gifted is gifted is gifted, regardless of whether we're talking about academics, athletics, music, art, or whatever. The defining characteristic of all is the same... they have an intense passion for doing whatever it is they're doing. When their time is their own, the gifted student seeks learning activities, the gifted athlete seeks physical activities, etc.
For example, it takes a special kind of intensity to turn EVERY SINGLE writing prompt in AP English into a football analogy. It should come as no surprise, then, that the guy who did that was the captain of the football team. Whenever this kid wasn't practicing football, he was hanging out with other kids and arranging pick-up games. Therefore, he was was developing his skills at a rate that a kid without that intensity couldn't possibly hope to match. Meanwhile, I was probably reading a book, which is why his writing skills couldn't come close to matching mine.
My own DD9 is an interesting study in this, because she's intense about three different things: learning, music, and athletics. We get the same kinds of feedback from her teachers in all of these things, and we see her seeking new learning opportunities and practicing them all without any prompting from us.
