The athlete is out of bed, but he came second (6-2)
I believe the answer is:
runner-up
'second' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the athlete is out of bed but he came' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'athlete' could be 'runner' (type of athlete) and 'runner' is located in the answer.
'out of bed' could be 'up' (synonyms) and 'up' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for runner-up that I've seen before include "One who is second in a race" , "Competitor who finishes second" , "Contestant in second place" , "Second-placed contestant" , "Second-best" .)