racing vs athletics

racing and athletics both are nouns.

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

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

Other hypernyms of racing include sport.

racing (noun)	athletics (noun)
the sport of engaging in contests of speed	an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition
	participation in sports events as an extracurricular activity
	a contest between athletes