lifter vs athlete

lifter and athlete both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
lifter	Yes	No	No	No
athlete	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, athlete is a hypernym of lifter; that is, athlete is a word with a broader meaning than lifter:

Other hypernyms of lifter include jock.

lifter (noun)	athlete (noun)
an athlete who lifts barbells	a person trained to compete in sports
a thief who steals goods that are in a store