Oxford Duden

"highflyer" = "Überflieger" (aus eigenem Antrieb)
"Hotshot" - ("Hoffnungsträger") (eher "gepusht")

hotshot
slang

- someone who is skilful and successful at something

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)


Zelikow is a former Wall Street HOTSHOT who now serves as executive vice president of the Inter-American Development Bank.

(The Washington Post)


Murray faces a likely encounter with American James Blake in the third round of the French Open tennis tournament and may take on Spanish HOTSHOT Rafael Nadal for a semi-final spot.

(BBC News)

Hotshot, also written hot shot and hot-shot, appears in the English language as far back as the 17th century. Back then it referred to someone who recklessly shoots a gun like a hot-headed person. A hothead is a person who does things or reacts too quickly without thinking about it first.

The modern sense of hotshot, someone who is really good at something, first appeared in the 1920s and may stem from World War I flying aces. These were military aviators credited with shooting down five or more enemy airplanes during combat.