diff --git a/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/operators/athena.py b/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/operators/athena.py
index f2724f3c63..28781aa41a 100644
--- a/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/operators/athena.py
+++ b/airflow/providers/amazon/aws/operators/athena.py
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class AWSAthenaOperator(BaseOperator):
 
     def get_hook(self):
         """Create and return an AWSAthenaHook."""
-        return AWSAthenaHook(self.aws_conn_id, self.sleep_time)
+        return AWSAthenaHook(self.aws_conn_id, sleep_time=self.sleep_time)
 
     def execute(self, context):
         """
diff --git a/tests/providers/amazon/aws/operators/test_athena.py b/tests/providers/amazon/aws/operators/test_athena.py
index 21672a811f..109c983462 100644
--- a/tests/providers/amazon/aws/operators/test_athena.py
+++ b/tests/providers/amazon/aws/operators/test_athena.py
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class TestAWSAthenaOperator(unittest.TestCase):
         self.athena = AWSAthenaOperator(task_id='test_aws_athena_operator', query='SELECT * FROM TEST_TABLE',
                                         database='TEST_DATABASE', output_location='s3://test_s3_bucket/',
                                         client_request_token='eac427d0-1c6d-4dfb-96aa-2835d3ac6595',
-                                        sleep_time=1, max_tries=3, dag=self.dag)
+                                        sleep_time=0, max_tries=3, dag=self.dag)
 
     def test_init(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.athena.task_id, MOCK_DATA['task_id'])
@@ -70,7 +70,10 @@ class TestAWSAthenaOperator(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(self.athena.database, MOCK_DATA['database'])
         self.assertEqual(self.athena.aws_conn_id, 'aws_default')
         self.assertEqual(self.athena.client_request_token, MOCK_DATA['client_request_token'])
-        self.assertEqual(self.athena.sleep_time, 1)
+        self.assertEqual(self.athena.sleep_time, 0)
+
+        hook = self.athena.get_hook()
+        self.assertEqual(hook.sleep_time, 0)
 
     @mock.patch.object(AWSAthenaHook, 'check_query_status', side_effect=("SUCCESS",))
     @mock.patch.object(AWSAthenaHook, 'run_query', return_value=ATHENA_QUERY_ID)