How do you win the javelin throw?

• The javelin: a shaft, a metal head and a cord grip. Men throw 800 g and women 600 g.
• Where from: a runway 4 m wide and at least 30 m long, ending in a curved white line called the arc.
• How: held at the grip with one hand and thrown over the shoulder or the upper arm.
• The failure: touching the arc, the side lines or the ground outside them during the throw.
• Head first: the metal head must strike the ground before any other part of the javelin.
• The landing: the head of the javelin must first land inside the two white lines of the sector. Touching a line is a failure.
• Leaving: the athlete stays in the runway until the javelin has landed, then leaves from behind the arc.
• The measurement: from the nearest mark made on first landing back to the inside edge of the arc.
• Trials: with more than eight athletes, each has three trials and the eight with the best valid throws have three more.
• The result: each athlete is credited with the best of all their trials.
• Level on distance: the second-best throw decides, then the third-best.
• The clock: one minute for each trial.

Each attempt is a trial. A failed attempt is commonly called a foul. The thing thrown is the implement. The run to the arc is made on a runway.

Every throw is released behind the same arc and measured back to it, so the run-up helps only as far as the athlete can stop before the line. The sector keeps the javelin landing where the judges are ready for it and nobody else is standing.