There is still talent to a degree. Some motor skills are involved after all, and some people just naturally have more control over it than others. Though someone without any talent that puts in hard work and effort can still exceed someone with talent that doesn't bother to improve upon it.
Like, I know people who haven't played any rhythm games before and only play osu! casually. Yet they can stream over 200bpm no problem and have sight reading and aim on par with me. While I've spent twice as much time trying to work on my skills and improve as hard as I can. But I can still only stream mash 160bpm at most and he's been keeping up with me on all other skills with hardly any effort. If he actually put in as much time and effort as I have, he could at least double or triple his current pp.
Not saying that I play 24/7 every day or something (especially considering my play count), but I at least put in a few to several hours each day, taking a day off after two or three days to rest up, depending on the hours I've put in. Point is, talent is a thing. I'm not the most efficient with my training in comparison to others, but someone who puts in only half the effort I do, like a couple of my friends, still manages to be better.