We examined whether highlighting the similarities between the skills needed for sports and the skills used in Mental Rotation (MR) influenced male athletes' performance on spatial tasks. College men, half of whom were athletes, completed MR under two conditions: one which made explicit the analogous nature of the skills needed for both MR and sports, and one which did not. Unlike women in previous studies, male athletes did not underperform when the importance of the MR to athleticism was highlighted. We discuss the results in context of differences between men and women in responses to stereotype threat and in levels of self-confidence.