Athletics, also known as track and field athletics, are a collection

"Athletics" is singular, so the first verb must be "is", and D or E is right. When deciding between D and E, we need to know if it is the "collection that involves running, etc", or if it is the "sports events that involve running, etc", and it's the events that involve running and jumping, not the collection, so E is correct.

There isn't a grammatical rule you can use to pick the right verb here, since either could be right, depending on meaning. For example, these two sentences have the same structure as those in answers D and E:

I am giving you a box of coins that are made of gold.

I am giving you a box of coins that is made of gold.

Both sentences are grammatically correct, but they have different meanings - in the first, the coins are made of gold, and in the second, the box is made of gold.