Hero or Legend

Below is a brief but heated convo between Karl of the channel 9 morning show, and Mia, of mamamia.com, on the recent Tour de France win by Cadel Evans.



When I think of the word 'hero', I picture Doctors, Nurses, Ambulance drivers, Foster Parents, Missionaries, and the like. So, a person who saves someone, a person who heals, a person who cares for the homeless, the orphaned, the hungry etc. I never ever think of a cyclist. No matter what he has accomplished.
So, I can kind of get where Karl is coming from, but in all honesty, I can understand the point that Mia is making. However, Karl had already decided to send Mia through the mincer before the interview began, and had no real intention of letting her explain why she feels the way she does. I have always thought of him as an arrogant prick, so this only compounds that, nonetheless, he is entitled to his opinion, entitled to stand up for a fellow cyclist, and fellow Aussie.
There is no doubt about it, Cadel Evans will now go down in history as one of many Australian sporting legends and deservedly so, however, we have gotten the words 'legend' and 'Hero' intertwined.

Lets look at the word Legend.
Here I quote from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/legend
leg·end

1.

a. An unverified story handed down from earlier times, especially one popularly believed to be historical.

b. A body or collection of such stories.

c. A romanticized or popularized myth of modern times.

2. One that inspires legends or achieves legendary fame.

3.

a. An inscription or a title on an object, such as a coin.

b. An explanatory caption accompanying an illustration.

Does Cadel meet the true description of legend? Although he will most likely be called an Aussie 'Sporting Legend' for years to come, no. He does not meet the true meaning and description of Legend. He is not a mythical story passed on from generation to generation. He is also not romanticized, but he has achieved fame. So of course this is all my opinion, and you may or may not disagree, but I really do not think he meets the true description of the word legend. It's a crying shame really- because I thought it suited him.

Now lets look at 'Hero'.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hero

hero

1. a man distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility, fortitude, etc.

2. a man who is idealized for possessing superior qualities in any field

3. (Myth & Legend / Classical Myth & Legend) Classical myth a being of extraordinary strength and courage, often the offspring of a mortal and a god, who is celebrated for his exploits

4. the principal male character in a novel, play, etc.

So what about hero? You could definitely say Cadel is distinguished by exceptional courage. And he does possess superior qualities in his field, clearly. So it looks like Cadel does meet the true meaning and description of 'Hero'.

So now that I know that Cadel and other sporting 'legends' should be called 'Sporting Heroes', I believe that there should be a new word created to describe our caregivers, doctors and nurses who go above and beyond their ever day roles. I think there will always be a disagreement about who should be called a hero or a legend, because we have meshed the two words together and they are some what similar.
There is only really one answer to this dilemma, and that is to create a new word and let legends be legends and heroes be heroes. Separately.