The sort of prose for describing the athletes on the track? (4)
I believe the answer is:
racy
'the sort of prose for describing' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'athletes on the track?' is the wordplay.
'athletes' becomes 'ac' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' indicates putting letters inside.
'the track?' becomes 'RY' (abbreviation for railway).
'ac' put inside 'ry' is 'RACY'.
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for racy that I've seen before include "Risqu" , "rather blue" , "Suggestive; spirited" , "bawdy quality" , "Slightly indecent" .)