From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishathleticsath‧let‧ics /æθˈletɪks, əθ-/ ●○○ noun [uncountable] 1 British EnglishDSO sports such as running and jumping SYN track and field American English2 American English physical activities such as sports and exerciseGRAMMAR: Singular or plural verb?Athletics is followed by a singular verb: Athletics is largely an individual sport.
Examples from the Corpus
athletics• Assumption of risk is rarely applicable except in cases of competitive athletics.• Today's world-class athlete no longer needs to have a full-time job to support his or her athletics.• For there is some degree of blindness and fear about these things, an avoidance of the spirit in athletics.• It is believed to be one of the biggest individual race contracts in the history of athletics.• In this sense athletics offer a metaphor of the entire dilemma of liberation.• In the summer, athletics, cricket and tennis take over from the winter sports.• We are amazed that the athletics world is so eager to be part of the reinstatement of drugs cheat Ben Johnson.• But his primary passion was athletics. 