[fsloth]

Have you tried approaching CEO:s directly with a phonecall? If you make a good impression that can make a world of difference. Athletism and extroversion are certainly an asset using this approach. If you can program and not just copy and paste stack overflow that should put you at least in the top half of candidates.

Also - coding skills alone are not that hot - they just make you into a replaceable cog. However, if you combine this with domain specialization this could make you into a valuable contributor. And by domain specialization I mean what ever is the core business of a business. Tomato delivery logistics? Insurance policy business rules? Trash truck maintenance database operation? (I'm making this up, but most businesses are run by their own rules and terminology - being familiar how they work gives you the right to claim 'domain knowledge').

I'm 100% sure there is a domain for you to specialize out there. You'll find it if you don't give up. Social skills are probably a really good asset here. Stop talking to HR. Start talking to the upper management directly. Everybody likes to interact with a nice person when they have the time - unless they are lizard people, in which instance they should be avoided in any case.