EXPLAINER: How can so many elite athletes also look ridiculously good?

Elite sport naturally highlights the physical traits humans evolved to find attractive.

You are watching the Asian Games for the competition. Then somewhere between swimming, volleyball, basketball and athletics, another thought crosses your mind:

Why does everyone seem so good-looking?

It is hardly an unusual observation, especially in the Philippines, where athletes can attract fan bases that rival those of actors and pop stars. Basketball players have long been treated as celebrities, while volleyball stars routinely inspire screaming crowds, fan pages and social media edits that have little to do with the final score.

We probably all know someone who has a particular weakness for athletes. I have a friend, for instance, who seems to date basketball players almost exclusively.

At some point, you begin to wonder: Is there actually something about athletes that makes them unusually attractive?

Science suggests there might be.

It may not simply be the uniforms, television lighting or the fact that elite athletes tend to be extraordinarily fit. Research suggests there may actually be a relationship between athletic ability and some of the physical characteristics humans perceive as attractive.

In other words, your Asian Games crush might have science behind it.

Good athletes may actually look better

One of the most intriguing findings comes from research examining whether athletic performance can somehow be reflected in the face.

A study published in Personality and Individual Differences examined NFL quarterbacks and asked women to rate photographs of their faces. Researchers found that quarterbacks with higher passer ratings also tended to receive higher attractiveness ratings—even after factors including age, ethnicity, height, weight and facial expression were taken into account.

Even stranger: the people rating them did not need to watch them play.

Similar findings emerged when researchers studied professional soccer and ice hockey players. Women rated photographs of the athletes without evaluating their actual performances. Soccer goalkeepers and strikers were rated more attractive than defenders and midfielders, while hockey goalies ranked highest in facial attractiveness in that particular sample.

Researchers have proposed that some characteristics important in athletic performance—such as agility, coordination and explosive physical ability—may overlap with traits historically associated with health and biological fitness.

That does not mean attractive people automatically make better athletes, or that athletes are genetically destined to be beautiful. These studies show associations, not a universal rule.

The athletic body is part of the attraction

There is also the much simpler explanation staring viewers directly in the face: elite sport selects for exceptional bodies.

Years of training can produce muscular development, lower body-fat levels, powerful shoulders and legs, improved posture and other highly visible signs of physical conditioning.

Athletes also move differently. Speed, balance, coordination and control can themselves influence how someone is perceived.

Filipinos turn athletes into celebrities

This may help explain why Filipino sports fandom so easily spills beyond the game itself.

Fans do not merely follow statistics and championships. Athletes become endorsers, influencers and celebrities. Their photos circulate online. Their relationships become entertainment news. Their appearances draw crowds.

Some supporters follow a player as intensely as they follow the team.

It is particularly visible in basketball and volleyball, where popular players can accumulate huge individual fan bases. For some spectators, athletic ability may get their attention first—but looks, personality and charisma can turn admiration into a full-blown crush.

Confidence can make someone look hotter

Then there is confidence.

Watch an athlete walk onto a court, track or pool deck knowing they are among the best competitors in their country.

Achievement, status and confidence can influence how observers perceive someone. Psychology has long documented the broader “halo effect,” in which a positive impression in one area can shape how we evaluate a person in others.

Being exceptionally good at something can therefore become part of the attraction itself.

Evolution may play a role

Evolutionary psychology offers another possible layer.

Researchers have proposed that athletic ability may function partly as a visible signal of underlying physical condition. Studies involving athletes have investigated whether faces themselves may contain subtle cues associated with athletic ability.

From that perspective, humans may not necessarily have evolved to find “athletes” attractive. Rather, some of the qualities required to become an elite athlete—strength, coordination, physical condition and vitality—overlap with characteristics that people can find attractive.

But caution is important.

Human attraction is enormously complicated. Culture, familiarity, personality, grooming, fashion, media exposure and individual preference all matter. Beauty cannot be reduced to hormones, symmetry or athletic performance.

So maybe your athlete crush makes sense

There is something fascinating about watching elite sport.

The Asian Games put thousands of people who have spent years developing strength, speed, endurance, balance and coordination in one place—and then broadcast them in high definition to millions of viewers.

So if you tuned in for the medals but somehow ended up developing a crush on a swimmer, volleyball player, basketball player or runner, you may not be imagining things.

And maybe that friend who keeps dating basketball players has been onto something all along.

Elite sport does not just showcase what the human body can do.

It also happens to showcase many of the physical qualities humans have long found beautiful.

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