sledding vs athletics

sledding and athletics both are nouns.

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

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

Other hypernyms of sledding include sport.

sledding (noun)	athletics (noun)
the sport of riding on a sled or sleigh	an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition
advancing toward a goal	participation in sports events as an extracurricular activity
	a contest between athletes