I have the following letters going around a square (centre square blanked out? They are in this sequence but word can start at any point going around the central blanked square.
? L ? N ? L ? ?
Clue is Athletic Event. The 2nd last 'L' is from an answer Milliard (one million million)
The 'N' is from answer Alliance (Coalition)
The first 'L' is given by the puzzle compiler.