History Main / TooQualifiedToApply

* The NCAA still uses a similar amateurism rule, in their case specifically in order to prevent professional athletes from being brought in as "ringers". (In this case, it only applies to the sport in question, so, for example, a person who'd played professional baseball would still be eligible to play any sport in the NCAA ''except'' baseball, though in practice this rarely comes up.) A long-awaited rule update in the early 2020s narrowed the scope of the rule's exclusion to only apply to direct payment for participation in sports and not the use of their "name, image, and likeness" (in other words, sponsorship deals and similar), as prior to this update, ''any'' money made in relation to sports, even if it was just trading on their sports reputation without actually competing (e.g. being used as a big name in an ad campaign), would render them ineligible.

* The NCAA still uses a similar amateurism rule, in their case specifically in order to prevent professional athletes from being brought in as "ringers". (In this case, it only applies to the sport in question, so, for example, a person who'd played professional baseball would still be eligible to play any sport in the NCAA ''except'' baseball, though in practice this rarely comes up.) A long-awaited rule update in the early 2020s narrowed the scope of the rule's exclusion to only apply to direct payment for participation in sports and not the use of their "name, image, and likeness" (in other words, sponsorship deals and similar), as prior to this update, ''any'' money made in relation to sports, even if it was just trading on their sports reputation without actually competing (e.g. appearing in an ad that featured them due to their sports performance), would render them ineligible.

* The NCAA still uses a similar amateurism rule, in their case specifically in order to prevent professional athletes from being brought in as "ringers". (In this case, it only applies to the sport in question, so, for example, a person who'd played professional baseball would still be eligible to play any sport in the NCAA ''except'' baseball.) A long-awaited rule update in the early 2020s narrowed the scope of the rule's exclusion to only apply to direct payment for participation in sports and not the use of their "name, image, and likeness" (in other words, sponsorship deals and similar), as prior to this update, ''any'' money made in relation to sports, even if it was just trading on their sports reputation (like an ad campaign), would render them ineligible.

* The NCAA still uses a similar amateurism rule, in their case specifically in order to prevent professional athletes from being brought in as "ringers". (In this case, it only applies to the sport in question, so, for example, a person who'd played professional baseball would still be eligible to play any sport in the NCAA ''except'' baseball.) A long-awaited rule update in the early 2020s narrowed the scope of the rule's exclusion to only apply to direct payment for participation in sports and not the use of their "name, image, and likeness" (in other words, sponsorship deals and similar), as prior to this update, ''any'' money made in relation to sports, even if it was just trading on their sports reputation (like an ad campaign), would render them ineligible.

* With the increasing normalization of being transgender in some parts of the world, this has become a point of contention in athletics - whether a transgender woman, with the advantages of a male physique, should be allowed to compete in women's sports divisions. (It wasn't so long ago that such a question was [[Recap/FuturamaS4E13BendHer played ]][[Film/{{Ladybugs}} for laughs]]). Trans advocates are quick to point out that while on hormone therapy, a trans woman does ''not'' have a male physique (as testosterone blockers reduce muscle mass), while opponents to allowing them claim that testosterone inhibitors only reduce the size of muscle fibers, not the number[[note]]A muscle contraction works through the cumulative contraction of all muscle fibers, think of it as a tug of war of 5 versus 7 people[[/note]], so they still have a noticeable advantage. There are various other yes-it's-unfair and no-it's-not arguments, we won't get into them here to avoid an argument. At time of writing there haven't actually been any super successful transgender athletes[[note]]Caitlyn Jenner is disregarded here because she transitioned after retiring from sports[[/note]], so the question has not become very major.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':

* In an episode of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' in which Al gets ID that labels him 65, he enters the local Senior Olympics. His only real competition is a man who wants to win so badly he once considered lying about his age. Al ends up winning and the narration notes that if you expected Al to let the old guy win, then you haven't been paying attention to the show the last several years.

* In ''Series/WaitingForGod'', this is used as a punchline for a joke: the context is that Diana has gotten Harvey put in the funny-farm, which leaves a [[WeWantOurJerkBack kind of a vacuum]]. Tom tells Diana that we all need a bastard in our lives. Diana asks why she can't fill that role, to which Tom replies "Overqualified."

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'':

[[folder: Film -- Animation]]

[[folder: Film -- Live-Action]]

* ''Manga/DragonBallZ'': After the Cell saga, the main characters try to pass for normal. When they enter the latest worldwide fighting tournament, they all give a light tap to the punch machine. Then Vegeta, [[ArrogantKungFuGuy being Vegeta]], comes along and obliterates it.

* One non-canon story in ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' has Archie undergo reconstructive surgery after an accident and getting turned into a ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan''-esque cyborg. He joins the local football team and becomes an unstoppable juggernaut, until an opposing coach cites a rule that forbids fielding any "animal, monster, alien or cyborg." The story ends with Archie realizing that getting banned from football doesn't mean he can't join the cheerleading squad, and receiving acclaim for lifting the entire squad over his head at once.

* ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'' member Northstar was once an Olympic skier. His medals were taken and he was banned from the sport when it was discovered he is a mutant speedster.

** In one episode, Spyke enters a skateboarding contest and performs well, but is pressured by the other contestants into forfeiting because of his mutant genes. Spyke insists his mutation doesn't affect his ability to skateboard[[labelnote:*]]Spyke's power is [[BadWithTheBone growing bone-like spikes]], and it'd be obvious if he was using them mid-match.[[/labelnote]], but leaves the contest anyway, feeling that when the judges find out he's a mutant, [[FantasticRacism he's not going to stand a chance of winning anyway.]]
** A later episode has [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Principal Kelly]] taking away all of the academic and sports achievements of the mutant students of Bayville High, starting with Jean Grey's soccer trophies, because he says that said powers were used for cheating (although there is absolutely no evidence for that. However, since Kelly is a hardcore anti-mutant bigot, this is presented as an expression of his FantasticRacism rather than a policy due serious consideration.

** The Fire Ferrets unknowingly recruit the Avatar for their probending team. Subverted because Korra is not very good against trained opponents even with her Avatar powers, and outs herself by panicking and bending someone else's elements. Despite this, she's allowed to stay on if she sticks to waterbending.

* In the ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'' holiday special, a Deadpool imitation contest is done for charity. Deadpool enters, but Squirrel Girl says he can't win, as he ''is'' Deadpool. She then awards him with the ''Minimum Effort'' ribbon.

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' ExpandedUniverse novel ''The Great Starship Race'', the U.S.S. Enterprise participates in the title race. Because it's much faster than any of the other ships, it would automatically win the race. Instead of simply ordering the Enterprise to keep below some arbitrary speed limit (and check the log tapes to verify it if there's a dispute), the race's organizers require that the Enterprise's engines have restrictors put on them to physically prevent it from going above a certain speed, even in the event of an emergency. [[AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp Naturally this causes problems later in the story]].

** The Fairy Dance arc has similar angst with Kirito entering another [=VR-MMORPG=] in order to find his missing girlfriend... and it turns out that enough of its code was stolen from Sword Art Online that some of his previous avatar data is ported over like a type of OldSaveBonus. The problem is that as an [=SAO=] survivor he's been connected to the same kind of neural interface [=24/7=] for the last ''two years''; as a result, his brain has adapted to it, letting him control his avatar with greater speed and fluidity than any normal player. Thus he angsts about how he'll probably be banned on sight from any kind of gameplay because he's pretty much the definition of "overpowered", and how this will be bad for his chances of finding out where Asuna is.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'': Leveling vocations is done by participating in a number of battles rather than experience points, but your characters' levels limit the amount of battles that count (i.e. RandomEncounters in the area around the starting town only counts towards characters under level 5). The earliest area with a limit of 99 is the Spiegelspire, letting it function as a PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling of sorts.

* This is why Yamcha got fired from his baseball team in ''WebAnimation/DragonShortZ'': after hitting 500 ''consecutive'' homeruns, he was driving away all the fans because [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction they already knew his team would win]]. However, he does get paid a lot of money to sign a non-compete contract, because even though his team doesn't want him anymore, they sure don't want him to join a rival team either.
* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner''. There's a Strong Sad impersonation contest. Coach Z dismisses what appears to be Strong Sad himself, saying he's not allowed to enter. It turns out to be a perfect disguise by Homsar.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': A flashback in "The Storm" shows that after Aang was publicly revealed to be the Avatar the other airbender kids stopped playing competitive games with him because they felt he'd have an unfair advantage, even though his actual level of ability hadn't changed.

Everyone loves an underdog story, that's why UnderdogsNeverLose is such a common trope. It's natural that we cheer for the one we don't expect to win, nobody wants to watch DavidVersusGoliath where Goliath wins. But when this leaks out of narrative contexts, or into unrelated narratives, you often get this rather bizarre mutation: the person who won is seen as unethical or even evil ''because they won'' — or just because they entered with the knowledge that they have an advantage, which sounds like cheating to some people. The advantage may be a result of TrainingFromHell or being the PrivilegedRival, or perhaps a purely fictional origin such as being a cyborg or having superpowers.

* One non-canon story in ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' has Archie suffer a reconstructive surgery after an accident and getting turned into a ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan''-esque cyborg. He joins the Riverdale football team and becomes an unstoppable juggernaut, until an official cites a rule that forbids fielding any "animal, monster, alien or cyborg." The story ends with Archie realizing that getting banned from football doesn't mean he can't join the cheerleading squad, and receiving acclaim for lifting the entire squad over his head at once.

* One ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' story has Superman play basketball against against a bunch of {{Muggles}}. After [[LoopholeAbuse promising]] not to use "flyin' or anything like that" because they consider that "just weak", he uses SuperSpeed to win in a rare SmugSuper moment.
* The children's humour strip ''The Winners'', featuring a BornLucky family and printed in several anthology comics, often had them outright banned from multiple contests to make it fair. One LettersToTheEditor response in ''ComicBook/{{Buster}}'' also said that they voluntarily avoid playing the lottery to "give everyone else a chance".

** Frozone was barred from competing in the [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Winter Olympics]] on account of his Super abilities granting him a tremendously unfair advantage.

* This is ultimately why Yamcha got fired from his baseball team in ''WebAnimation/DragonShortZ'': after hitting 500 ''consecutive'' homeruns, he was driving away all the fans because they already knew his team would win. He did get a ''massive'' payout thanks to contract rules, though, which he used to invest in the biggest drink company in the world and start a chain of restaurants, so it works out for him in the end.

* The concept of tier lists and league divisions is meant to prevent this by organizing participants into categories where they are expected to be about the same with everyone else. The distinction can be as simple as Varsity and Junior Varsity in highschool. This prevents the PurposelyOverpowered and {{Game Breake|r}}rs from ruining the inherent competitive value system of sports and games.

** Also, that rule was made because the founders of the Modern Olympics incorrectly believed that the Ancient Greeks had the same rule. [[DatedHistory But in fact, the Ancient Greek Olympics were entirely a competition of professional athletes.]]

Everyone loves an underdog story, that's why UnderdogsNeverLose is such a common trope. It's natural that we cheer for the one we don't expect to win. No one wants to watch DavidVersusGoliath where Goliath wins, but when this leaks out of narrative contexts, or into unrelated narratives, you often get this rather bizarre mutation: the person who won is seen as unethical or even evil ''because they won'' — or just because they entered with the knowledge that they have an advantage, which sounds like cheating to some people. The advantage may be a result of TrainingFromHell or being the PrivilegedRival, or perhaps a purely fictional origin such as being a cyborg or having superpowers.

There is also an element of ComesGreatResponsibility in this kind of thinking: people who know they're obviously gonna win a contest should be responsible enough to know they shouldn't enter it and ruin everyone else's fun. Supposedly.

* Discussed by Spiderman in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' where he mentions that he would love to play football but since he couldn't before his powers, it wouldn't be fair to do so after he gains them.

** In book 18, Encyclopedia attends Tyrone Taylor's birthday party. Every year, they hold several games, including the "brain game", a test of knowledge. Encyclopedia, it's said, has been banned from participating in that particular game since Tyrone's fifth birthday. He's not bitter about it though.

* Discussed in ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' during the arc where Zonker Harris goes into training for the Gerald Ford Biathlon: golf and tanning. Zonker hired Bernie as his personal coach, during which Bernie asked why a black man wouldn't outright clinch a tanning competition. Zonker points out that it's a matter of gradient: how dark you were at the start of the contest vs. how dark you get during the tanning. Bernie grouses that it's another form of institutionalized racism, to which Zonker replies "Man, don't spoil it for the rest of us."

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons 3rd Edition'' encodes this in the mechanics for awarding ExperiencePoints: defeating a challenge far below a character's [[CharacterLevel level]] grants no XP, on the grounds that the conflict was too unfairly lopsided for the winner to learn anything from it. This isn't true of other editions, however, as large groups of {{mook}}s can still pose a potential threat in some editions.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', this trope was used as part of a YourMom joke. It went something like "Your momma tried to enter an ugly contest, but she was turned away. They said 'No professionals!'"

* The Olympic Games were originally reserved for amateur athletes; professionals were barred from entry. So for instance a student or soldier who did sports on the side could complete, but a basketball player who got a paycheck for playing could not. There was even one notable case (Jim Thorpe) where a man had his medals revoked because he used to play professionally in a ''different sport''. This restriction ended in 1986, due to a combination of professional athleticism becoming more normalized, and LoopholeAbuse by Soviet Bloc countries who would give their athletes zero-work government jobs that paid enough for them to spend all day training.
** Also, that rule was made because the founders of the Modern Olympics incorrectly incorrectly believed that the Ancient Greek Olympics had the same rule. [[DatedHistory But in fact, the Ancient Greek Olympics were entirely a competition of professional athletes.]]
* The Pony Club is banned from participating in (admittedly low-key) local riding shows and gymkhanas in the UK, as their level tends to be much higher than the average entrant. Unfortunately, since there's no way of proving one isn't a member, there have been cases where one or two have managed to sneak in anyway.

* Having a doctoral degree makes it very difficult to get a job outside of academia, as employers tend to assume advanced degree holders are overqualified and thus more expensive. ([[MortonsFork Unfortunately, it's also very difficult to get a job]] ''inside'' of academia as there just aren't that many to go around.)
* With the increasing normalization of being transgender in some parts of the world, this has become a point of contention in athletics - whether a transgender woman, with the advantages of a male physique, should be allowed to compete in women's sports divisions. (It wasn't so long ago that such a question was [[Recap/FuturamaS4E13BendHer played ]][[Film/{{Ladybugs}} for laughs]]). Trans advocates are quick to point out that while on hormone therapy, a trans woman does ''not'' have a male physique (as testosterone blockers reduce muscle mass), while opponents to allowing them claim that testosterone inhibitors only reduce the size of muscle fibers, not the number[[note]]A muscle contraction works through the cumulative contraction of all muscle fibers, think of it as a tug of war of 5 versus 7 people[[/note]], so they still have a noticeable advantage. There are various other yes-it's-unfair and no-it's-not arguments, we won't get into them here to avoid an argument. At time of writing there haven't actually been any super successful transgender athletes[[note]]Caitlyn Jenner is disregarded here because she transitioned after retiring from athletics[[/note]], so the question has not become very major.

In real life, the most common case arises when a given opportunity is "open to everyone", yet the winner is someone who would arguably not have needed that opportunity to prove they're good at what they do. Such as a professional singer winning a karaoke competition at the local pub. Despite what Hollywood might tell you, a talented amateur is unlikely to be better than someone with a decade or more of experience under their belt, and the professional likely doesn't ''need'' to enter an amateur contest to prove their skill, making it easy to see them as a {{Jerkass}} doing it just to deny others their recognition.

On the other side of the coin, this is a common problem for the precocious amateur or semiprofessional, who finds themself not good enough to compete at the top level yet the subject of angry complaints when they win against the general public.

This trope is one of ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest. Compare TallPoppySyndrome, where the skilled person is brought down by active sabotage instead of just moral condemnation. TheResenter will often be the first person to consider someone else overqualified. Contrast VaryingCompetencyAlibi.

* ''Manga/DragonBallZ'': After the Cell saga, the main characters try to pass for normal. When they enter the latest worldwide fighting tournament, they all give a light tap to the punch machine. Then Vegeta, [[{{Jerkass}} being Vegeta]], comes along and obliterates it.

* One non-canon story in ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' has Archie suffer a horrific accident that requires reconstructive surgery resulting in Archie becoming a cyborg, roughly parallel to ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan''. Archie joins the Riverdale football team and becomes an unstoppable juggernaut, until an official cites a rule that forbids fielding any "animal, monster, alien or cyborg." The story ends with Archie realizing that getting banned from football doesn't mean he can't join the cheerleading squad, and receiving acclaim for lifting the entire squad over his head at once.
* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' shows it in two steps in the Olympic Games story:
** The Gauls tell the Romans that they have every intention of entering the Olympic Games (as Gallo-Romans) and win with their magic potion which grants super-strength. Because of this the other athletes completely give up on training, until they learn such substances are banned at the Olympics, which gets them back into training while the Gauls decide Asterix will only participate in the footrace.

** According to 5th edition's ''Chrome Flesh'', UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball bans all cyberware, bioware or use of magic (players are allowed to have [[BrainComputerInterface datajacks]] or cybereyes because they're so ubiquitous in everyday life, but they cannot be used to enhance your play). Despite (or perhaps ''because'' of) this restriction, it remains the most popular sport globally as no-one can buy their way to the top.

** A later episode has [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Principal Kelly]] taking away all of the academic and sports achievements of the mutant students of Bayville High, starting with Jean Grey's soccer trophies, because he says that said powers were used for cheating (although there is absolutely no evidence saying otherwise and in Jean's case, from what we see of her telepathy, it actually could even be considered a handicap when playing against a big group of people). Then again, Kelly is as hard-core with his FantasticRacism as it gets, even allowing anti-mutant bullying... or worse.

* The Olympic Games were originally reserved for amateur athletes and professionals were barred from entry. So for instance a student or soldier who did sports on the side could complete, but a basketball player who got a paycheck for playing could not. This restriction ended in 1986, particularly because of LoopholeAbuse by Communist bloc countries who would give their athletes zero-work government jobs that paid well enough for them to spend all their time training. Also, the modern Olympics had been founded by people who incorrectly believed they were copying the original Olympics of Ancient Greece. [[DatedHistory In reality, the Greek Olympics were entirely a competition of professional athletes.]]

* With the increasing normalization of being transgender in some parts of the world), this has become a point of contention in athletics - whether someone with the advantages of a male physique should be allowed to compete in women's sports. (It wasn't so long ago that such a question was [[Recap/FuturamaS4E13BendHer played ]][[Film/{{Ladybugs}} for laughs]]). Trans advocates are quick to point out that while on hormone therapy, a trans woman does ''not'' have a male physique (as testosterone blockers will reduce muscle mass), while opponents to allowing them claim that testosterone inhibitors only reduce the size of muscle fibers not the number[[note]]A muscle contraction works through the cumulative contraction of all muscle fibers, think of it as a tug of war of 5 versus 7 people.[[/note]] so they still have a noticeable advantage. At time of writing there haven't actually been any super successful transgender athletes[[note]]Caitlyn Jenner is disregarded here because she transitioned after her athletic career[[/note]], so the question has not become very major.

--> What do you mean, this page is too qualified for this wiki?

[[folder:Light Novels]]
* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':
** Early in the Aincrad arc, beta testers like Kirito are seen as untrustworthy due to their higher stats and knowledge of the game world giving them a better chance of survival.
** The Fairy Dance arc has similar angst with Kirito entering another [=VR-MMORPG=] in order to find his missing girlfriend... and it turns out that enough of its code was stolen from Sword Art Online that some of his previous avatar data is ported over like a type of OldSaveBonus. The problem is that as an [=SAO=] survivor he's been connected to the same kind of neural interface [=24/7=] for the last ''two years''; as a result, his brain has adapted to it, letting him control his avatar with greater speed and fluidity than any normal player. Thus he angsts about how he'll probably be banned on sight from any kind of gameplay because he's pretty much the definition of "overpowered", and how this will be bad for his chances of finding out where Asuna is.
[[/folder]]

Everyone loves an underdog story, that's why UnderdogsNeverLose is such a common trope. It's natural that we cheer for the one we don't expect to win. No one wants to watch DavidVersusGoliath where Goliath wins, but when this leaks out of narrative contexts, or into unrelated narratives, you often get this rather bizarre mutation: the person who won is seen as unethical or even evil ''because they won'' — or just because they entered with the knowledge that they'd have an advantage, which sounds like cheating to some people. The advantage may be a result of TrainingFromHell or being the PrivilegedRival, or perhaps a purely fictional origin such as being a cyborg or having superpowers.

There is also an element of ComesGreatResponsibility in this kind of thinking: people who know they're obviously gonna win contest should be responsible enough to know they shouldn't enter it and ruin everyone else's fun. Supposedly.

In real life, the most common case arises when a given opportunity is "open to everyone", yet the winner is someone who would arguably not have needed that opportunity to prove they're good at what they do. Such as a professional singer winning the karaoke competition at the pub. Despite what Hollywood might tell you, a talented amateur is unlikely to be better than someone with a decade or more of experience under their belt, and the professional likely doesn't ''need'' to enter an amateur contest to prove their skill, making it easy to see them as a {{Jerkass}} doing it just to deny others their recognition.

* Cyborg of the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' is explicitly introduced as a former athlete who can no longer compete because of his cybernetics.

* Discussed in ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' during the arc where Zonker Harris goes into training for the Gerald Ford Biathlon: golf and tanning. Zonker hired Bernie as his personal coach, during which Bernie asked why a black man wouldn't outright clinch a tanning competition. Zonker points out that it's a matter of gradient: melanin levels at the outset versus at the conclusion. Bernie starts grousing that it's another form of institutionalized racism, to which Zonker replies, "Man, don't spoil it for the rest of us."

* Having a doctoral degree makes it very difficult to get a job outside of academia, as employers tend to assume advanced degree holders are overqualified and thus more expensive. ([[MortonsFork Unfortunately, it's also very difficult to get a job]] ''[[MortonsFork inside]]'' [[MortonsFork of academia as there just aren't that many to go around.]])
* With the normalization of being transgender, this has become a serious point of contention in athletics - whether someone with the advantages of a male physique should be allowed to compete in women's sports. (It wasn't so long ago that such a question was [[Recap/FuturamaS4E13BendHer played ]][[Film/{{Ladybugs}} for laughs]]). Trans advocates are quick to point out that while on hormone therapy, a trans woman does ''not'' have a male physique (as testosterone blockers will reduce muscle mass), while opponents to allowing them claim that testosterone inhibitors only reduce the size of muscle fibers not the number[[note]]A muscle contraction works through the cumulative contraction of all muscle fibers, think of it as a tug of war of 5 versus 7 people.[[/note]] so they still have a noticeable advantage.

Everyone loves an underdog story. It's why UnderdogsNeverLose is such a common trope. It's natural that we cheer for the one we don't expect to win. No one wants to watch DavidVersusGoliath where Goliath wins, but when this leaks out of narrative contexts, or into unrelated narratives, you often get this rather bizarre mutation: the person who won is seen as unethical or even evil ''because they won'' — or just because they entered with the knowledge that they'd have an advantage, which sounds like cheating to some people. Said advantage may be a result of TrainingFromHell or being the PrivilegedRival. There is also an element of ComesGreatResponsibility: people with an obvious advantage in a contest should be responsible enough to know they shouldn't enter it and ruin everyone else's fun. Or at least that's what the condemners think.

In real life, the most common case arises when a given opportunity is "opened" to everyone, yet the winner is someone who would arguably not have needed that opportunity to prove they're good at what they do, such as a professional athlete or artist. Despite what Hollywood might tell you, a talented amateur is unlikely to be better than someone with a decade or more of experience under their belt, and the professional likely doesn't ''need'' to enter an amateur contest to prove their skill, making it easy to see them as a {{Jerkass}} doing it just to deny others their recognition. A common avoidance is an evil character who could win by playing fair [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat instead deciding to cheat, and losing as a result]]. Other times, it can be unintentionally introduced or openly announced.

On the other side of the coin, this is a common problem for the precocious amateur or semiprofessional, who can find themselves excluded from opportunities for between being a NormalFishInATinyPond by well-intentioned rulemakers MovingTheGoalposts.

This trope is one of ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest. Compare TallPoppySyndrome, where the skilled person is brought down by active sabotage, instead of just moral condemnation. TheResenter will often be the first person to consider someone else overqualified. Contrast VaryingCompetencyAlibi.

For when a specific tactic or playable character in a game is hated for being too powerful to be fair, see HighTierScrappy.

* ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'' member Northstar was once an Olympic skiier. His medals were taken and he was banned from the sport when it was discovered he is a mutant speedster.
* One non-canon story in ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' has Archie suffer a horrific accident that requires reconstructive surgery resulting in Archie becoming a cyborg, roughly parallel to ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan''. Archie joins the Riverdale football team, and becomes an unstoppable juggernaut, until an official cites a rule that forbids fielding any "animal, monster, alien or cyborg." Though banned from football itself, there's no such rule about the cheerleading squad. Archie can lift the entire squad overhead by himself.

** The Gauls tell the Romans that they have every intention of entering the Olympic Games (as Gallo-Romans) and win with their magic potion. Because of this the Romans completley give up on training (which spreads to the other athletes) until they learn such substances are banned, which gets them back into training while the Gauls decide Asterix will only participate in the footrace.
** Even back in the game, the Romans don't win a single medal, which leads the Greeks to realize this will hurt their tourist industry, so they create a Roman-only footrace event.
* In the ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'' holiday special, a Deadpool imitation contest is done for charity. Deadpool enters, but Squirrel Girl says he can't win, as he ''is'' Deadpool. At least she awards him with the ''Minimum Effort'' ribbon.
* ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons:'' One story has Doctor Colossus, suffering from a severe HumiliationConga, trying to get a job at Krusty Burger. The Squeaky-Voiced Teen informs him he's actually too overqualified for them to hire him.
-->'''SVT:''' Even our medic only has a basic medical degree...

* The Olympic Games were originally reserved for amateur athletes and professionals were barred from entry. So for instance a student or soldier who did sports on the side could complete, but a basketball player who got a paycheck for playing could not. This restriction ended in 1986, particularly because of LoopholeAbuse by Communist bloc countries who had “professional students” who were nominally amateurs, but had the government paying for professional-grade training. Also, the modern Olympics had been founded by people who incorrectly believed they were copying the original Olympics of Ancient Greece. [[DatedHistory In reality, the Greek Olympics were entirely a competition of professional athletes.]]

* With the normalization of being transgender, this has become a serious point of contention in athletics - whether someone with the advantages of a male physique should be allowed to compete in women's sports. (It wasn't so long ago that such a question was [[Recap/FuturamaS4E13BendHer played ]][[Film/{{Ladybugs}} for laughs]]). Trans advocates are quick to point out that while on hormone therapy, a trans woman does ''not'' have a male physique (as testosterone blockers will reduce muscle mass), while opponents to allowing them claim that testosterone inhibitors only reduce the size of muscle fibers not the number[[note]] A muscle contraction works through the cumulative contraction of all muscle fibers, think of it as a tug of war of 5 versus 7 people.[[/note]] so they still have a noticeable advantage.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'''s supplement ''Shadowbeat'', all of the major sports allow cyberware to some extent, but they also absolutely forbid any use of magic (spells, aid from spirits, etc.) to enhance performance. The only exception is if the player is a physical adept, whose natural abilities are enhanced by innate magical ability. As a balancing factor, physical adepts are forbidden to have cyberware. Though few adepts are willing to do so anyway because [[CyberneticsEatsYourSoul cybernetic implants weaken their ability to use magic]].

For when a specific tactic or playable character in a game is hated for being too powerful to be fair, see TierInducedScrappy.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'''s supplement ''Shadowbeat'', all of the major sports allow cyberware to some extent, but they also absolutely forbid any use of magic (spells, aid from spirits, etc.) to enhance performance. The only exception is if the player is a physical adept, whose natural abilities are enhanced by innate magical ability. As a balancing factor, physical adepts are forbidden to have cyberware.

This trope is one of ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest. Compare TallPoppySyndrome, where the skilled person is brought down by active sabotage, instead of just moral condemnation. TheResenter will often be the first person to consider someone else overqualified.

* Cyborg of the ComicBook/TeenTitans is explicitly introduced as a former athlete who can no longer compete because of his cybernetics.

* With the normalization of being transgender, this has become a serious point of contention in athletics - whether someone with the advantages of a male physique should be allowed to compete in women's sports. (It wasn't so long ago that such a question was [[Recap/FuturamaS4E13BendHer played ]][[Film/{{Ladybugs}} for laughs]]). Trans advocates are quick to point out that while on hormone therapy, a trans woman does ''not'' have a male physique (as testosterone blockers will reduce muscle mass).

* With the normalization of being transgender, this has become a serious point of contention in athletics - whether someone with the advantages of a male physique should be allowed to compete in women's sports. (It wasn't so long ago that such a question was [[Recap/FuturamaS4E13BendHer played ]][[Film/{{Ladybugs}} for laughs]]). Trans advocates are quick to point out that while on hormone therapy, a trans woman does ''not'' have a male physique (as testosterone blockers will reduce muscle mass) and that nobody bothers checking a cis athlete's hormone levels.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': People with superpowers are [[SuperRegistrationAct legally required]] to hide them. Thus, Dash's parents don't let him compete in sports because they [[CoverBlowingSuperpower don't trust him to restrain]] his SuperSpeed enough to maintain their cover. By the end of the movie, however, Dash's superheroics leave him feeling accomplished enough to [[SecondPlaceIsForWinners willfully restrain himself to taking second place]].