Cheats lit up track and field events (9)
I believe the answer is:
athletics
'track and field events' is the definition.
(events in athletic disciplines)
'cheats lit up' is the wordplay.
'up' is an anagram indicator (letters get chucked up).
'cheats'+'lit'='cheatslit'
'cheatslit' is an anagram of 'ATHLETICS'.
(Other definitions for athletics that I've seen before include "Olympic sports" , "Oldham and Charlton?" , "Track and field events" , "Partly track" , "Running and jumping" .)