How to demonstrate tollerance for suffering without being an athlete?

Very little to do with enduring suffering, though it's always a plus to know if hired a prospective candidate isn't going to complain. Most trading firms seek former athletes, military, or some other competitive background because you have to be disciplined enough to study, plan, and execute under pressure but also flexible enough to change and adapt when the situation warrants. Like Mike Tyson says...."everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." What we do when shit goes sideways is what separates the winners from the losers. This is a results oriented business...the vast majority of people are compensated for their time or knowledge...not performance.

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What Lucky Charms said. I was never involved in sports at school and in interviews I always end up referring back to myself taking 18-21 hours of coursework in undergrad while working and how I had to discipline myself not to sleep when I wanted, to recite flash cards/notes in my head while driving, do crazy study routines, how I practiced for/executed certain presentations in front of community leaders, etc.

I'm still a student myself, but I would think maintaining a good GPA in a serious major (as in not Gender Studies) with a healthy involvement in some serious extracurricular activities (a couple club leadership positions, volunteering, etc.) can be good enough to signal strong time management and tolerance skills.

Also being in a serious fraternity and doing all of the above.

I don't think you should lead with talking about suffering, but during interviews definitely have good stories to tell when they ask you questions about challenging times, overcoming adversity, working against a deadline, stuff like that.

I'm a vet and former varsity athlete. That said I always respect applicants who worked part time to support themselves during undergrad.

Join the navy seals. If you really want to prove you're a masochist, though, enlist in the army and attend ranger school, green beret training & OCS. However, if you have constant thoughts about dying, it's probably a bad idea.