athletics vs prelim

athletics and prelim both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
athletics	Yes	No	No	No
prelim	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, prelim is a hyponym of athletics; that is, prelim is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than athletics:

athletics (noun)	prelim (noun)
an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition	an examination taken by graduate students to determine their fitness to continue
participation in sports events as an extracurricular activity	a minor match preceding the main event
a contest between athletes