Second-placed athlete in front (6-2)
I believe the answer is:
runner-up
'second' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'placed athlete in front' is the wordplay.
'placed' becomes 'up' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'athlete' becomes 'runner' (type of athlete).
'in front' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'up' after 'runner' is 'RUNNER-UP'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for runner-up that I've seen before include "Second best?" , "One nearly winning" , "One who is second in a race" , "He finishes second in a competition" , "Second-place" .)