Field event the American gets on a plate? (6)
I believe the answer is:
discus
'field event' is the definition.
(discus is a kind of field event)
'american gets on a plate?' is the wordplay.
'american' becomes 'US' (United States).
'gets on' says to put letters next to each other.
'a plate?' becomes 'disc' (disc is a kind of plate).
'us' after 'disc' is 'DISCUS'.
'the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for discus that I've seen before include "It is thrown in athletic events" , "Athletics field event" , "Throw it for sport" , "Object thrown by athletes" , "Kind of plate thrown in sport" .)