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El atleta ni siquiera supo su límite.

El atleta ni siquiera supo su límite.
The athlete didn't even find out his limit.
From Lesson 269:Adverbs of inclusion (incluso, hasta)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El atleta ni siquiera supo su límite.

Why isn't there a no before the verb to mean "didn't"?
The phrase ni siquiera means "not even". In Spanish, if a negative word like ni comes before the verb (supo), you don't need an additional no. If you wanted to put it after the verb, you would need a double negative: El atleta no supo ni siquiera su límite.
Could I use incluso or hasta in this sentence to mean "even"?
Not in this case, because the English sentence is negative ("didn't even"). Incluso and hasta are used to mean "even" in positive contexts (like "Even the athlete knew"). Whenever you mean "not even," you must use ni siquiera.
Why is supo translated as "find out" instead of "knew"?
The verb saber (to know) shifts its meaning depending on which past tense you use. In the imperfect tense (sabía), it means "knew" as an ongoing state. But in the preterite tense used here (supo), it focuses on the exact moment the knowledge was acquired, which usually translates to "found out", "learned", or "realized".
Atleta ends in an "a", so why does it use the masculine article el?
Words for roles or professions that end in -eta or -ista (like atleta or artista) are typically the exact same word for men and women. You just change the article to match the person. El atleta tells us this is a male athlete, while la atleta would refer to a female athlete.

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