Crossword Genius

French actor gripping whip hard in sporting contest (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

decathlon

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'sporting contest' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'french actor gripping whip hard' is the wordplay.
'french actor' becomes 'delon' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'gripping' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are gripped).
'whip' becomes 'cat' (cat o' nine tails, cat for short is a type of whip).
'hard' becomes 'h' (abbreviation used in pencil classifications).
'cat'+'h'='cath'
'delon' enclosing 'cath' is 'DECATHLON'.

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for decathlon that I've seen before include "Sporting event with 10 disciplines" , "Athletics contest" , "Series of events" , "sporting contest" , "Athletic event" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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