Face athlete leading contestant (11)

I believe the answer is:

frontrunner

'leading contestant' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'face athlete' is the wordplay.
'face' becomes 'front' (fronting is a kind of facing).
'athlete' becomes 'runner' (type of athlete).
'front'+'runner'='FRONTRUNNER'

(Another definition for frontrunner that I've seen is " Leading contestant".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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