A champion (identical to the French, from the late Latin campio) is one who has repeatedly come out first among contestants in challenges (especially the winner of a tournament or other competition) or other test, one who is outstandingly skilled in their field. Olympic Gold Medalists, for example, Lindsay Davenport or Jean Claude Killy, are champions in this sense. The term can be applied to animals too, in particular racehorses, eg, Secretariat or Phar Lap.

In sports, a champion is the athlete or team in first place at the end of a season of organized competition (and, if applicable, any associated playoffs). It is for this reason that such competitions are often called championships. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further (artificial) divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions can be accordingly styled, e.g. national champion, world champion. In certain disciplines, there are specific titles for champions, either descriptive, as the baspehlivan in Turkish oil wrestling, or copied from real life, such as the koning and keizer ('king' and 'emperor') in traditional archery competions (not just national, also at lower levels) in the Low Countries.

• In a broader sense, nearly any sort of competition can be considered a championship, and the victor of it a champion. Thus, there are championships for many non-sporting competitions: spelling bees, wargames, dog breeding, etc.