preliminary vs athletics

preliminary and athletics both are nouns.

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

As nouns, athletics is a hypernym of preliminary; that is, athletics is a word with a broader meaning than preliminary:

Other hypernyms of preliminary include athletic competition, athletic contest.

preliminary (noun)	athletics (noun)
a minor match preceding the main event	an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition
something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows	participation in sports events as an extracurricular activity
	a contest between athletes

preliminary (adjective)	athletics (adjective)
denoting an action or event preceding or in preparation for something more important