Athleo describes competing under the condition that the competition is conducted lawfully.

The attested use describes competing in a context where receiving a crown depends on competing lawfully.

1. Competing under lawful conditions · dominant

   In 2 Timothy 2:5, the two present active subjunctive singular forms occur in the conditional statement about a person who competes and is not crowned unless the competition is lawful. The APB renders the clause, “if anyone competes, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully.”

   2 Timothy 2:5

In the Anselm Project Bible: In 2 Timothy 2:5, the APB uses “competes” for both occurrences in the conditional clause and adds “lawfully” to the second. The exact distribution of that qualification cannot be assigned to either form from the English alone.