Gifted man secures a fast time (8)
I believe the answer is:
talented
'gifted' is the definition.
(I know that gifted can be written as talented)
'man secures a fast time' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'ted' (Ted is a man's name).
'secures' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'fast time' becomes 'lent' (Lent is a time for fasting).
'a'+'lent'='alent'
'ted' going around 'alent' is 'TALENTED'.
(Other definitions for talented that I've seen before include "Having special or great ability" , "Showing a natural aptitude" , "Skilful" , "Having an unusual amount of ability" , "Having special aptitude" .)