Here are my thoughts on your questions (in reverse order):
I think athletes thank God for many reasons. I think they recognize that hard work alone does not encompass all the reasons for their victories. Their physical talent, their health (injuries), and the sheer luck that often comes in winning a game all play a big part too. In any given year, there are only about 5000 athletes in the big 3 professional leagues (NFL/MLB/NBA), so they also know they are very lucky to play games for millions of dollars per year.
With regards to the Trump assassination attempt, there is not even consensus among my Facebook conservative Christian friends. Most broadly, people everywhere always will tend to default to "God likes the things I like, and dislikes the things I dislike." Grace for the things I like and judgment for the things I don't. This is human nature, our souls searching for justice when we don't really have an inborn understanding of what's actually going on. Personally, I think a utilitarian argument could be made though, that God showed grace on America by keeping Trump alive. Shit would have really hit the fan for more than just the Competore family if Trump had been killed.
To the final problem- the problem of suffering- there is no good answer. Only satisfying or unsatisfying answers. You have to remember, that from a Christian perspective, we are the cause of our suffering (including death) through our sin. God's power and wisdom allow him to take the suffering we produce, and change it into something actually useful for us. This is "God has a plan." The ultimate example of this is the Crucifixion. Jesus suffered a very painful beating and death, and experienced the full effect of our sin put upon him. God then used that suffering to fulfill a promise of eternal life in blissful communion with Him, so that anyone who believed and submitted himself and his sin to Christ, could join him forever.
Anyways, just my thoughts!
= new reply since forum marked as read