The tale about a sportsman (7)
I believe the answer is:
athlete
'a sportsman' is the definition.
(type of sportsman)
'the tale about' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates an anagram.
'the'+'tale'='thetale'
'thetale' with letters rearranged gives 'ATHLETE'.
(Other definitions for athlete that I've seen before include "Sprinter, say" , "Person who competes in sports" , "gymnast, perhaps" , "Sport participant" , "One competes in sports" .)