champion

champion

I

cham‧pi‧on¹ W3 /ˈtʃæmpiən/ noun [countable]1. someone or something that has won a competition, especially in sport:
    the world heavyweight boxing champion
    the Olympic champion
    reigning/defending champion (=the champion at the present time)
2. champion of something/somebody someone who publicly fights for and defends an aim or principle, such as the rights of a group of people:
    a champion of women’s rights
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + champion
   ▪ an Olympic champion She's a top international athlete and an Olympic champion.
   ▪ the world champion At 22, he was the youngest world champion in the history of the game.
   ▪ the defending/reigning champion (=the present one) Cheah defeated the defending champion in the National Grand Prix.
   ▪ a former champion The former champion suffered a bad defeat.
   ▪ a junior champion The cycling team includes British junior champion, Andrew Wright.
   ▪ a national champion At 16, Gallois is France's youngest national champion.
   ▪ a boxing/tennis/golf etc champion The show will be opened by the former world boxing champion, Chris Eubank.
   ▪ a heavyweight/middleweight/featherweight etc champion (=one in a particular class of boxers, organized according to their weight) Graham's reign as middleweight champion ended last night.
   ▪ the 100/200 etc metres champion (=one in a running race) She's the world 3,000 metres champion.
■ verbs
   ▪ become champion Every sportsperson dreams of becoming a world champion.
   ▪ be crowned champion (=become champion) In 2007, the Springboks were crowned the rugby champions of the world.
■ champion + NOUN
   ▪ a champion swimmer/boxer/cyclist etc Lester Piggott is a former champion jockey.

II

champion² verb [transitive] written
to publicly fight for and defend an aim or principle, such as the rights of a group of people:
    She championed the cause of religious freedom.
     

THESAURUS

■ someone who wins something
   ▪ winner the person or thing that wins a race, competition etc: A prize of £500 will be awarded to the winner.
   ▪ the winning team/player/horse etc the one that wins: The winning team will go through to the grand final in Milan.
   ▪ champion (also the title holder American English) someone who has won a competition, especially in sport: He became the heavyweight boxing champion.
   ▪ record-holder someone who has achieved the fastest speed, the longest distance etc in a sport: the world high-jump record-holder