trailblazer

What it means

1. Synonym of pathfinder.
   1. One who discovers or makes a new path or way through an untraversed region.
   2. figurativelyOne who is the first to do something in a particular field; an innovator, a pioneer.

      Yes, there were instances of grandstanding and obsessive behaviour, but many were concealed at the time to help protect an aggressively peddled narrative of [Oscar] Pistorius the paragon, the emblem, the trailblazer.

      2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner’s punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014]”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2025, Sport section, page S22

      Synonyms: groundbreaker, outrider, pathbreaker, roadmaker, trailcutter, trailbreaker, waymaker

In a sentence

Yes, there were instances of grandstanding and obsessive behaviour, but many were concealed at the time to help protect an aggressively peddled narrative of [Oscar] Pistorius the paragon, the emblem, the trailblazer.

2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner’s punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014]”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Jul 2025, Sport section, page S22

Where it comes from

From trail (noun) + blazer (noun).