How do you win the shot put?

• The shot: a smooth metal ball. Men put 7.26 kg and women 4 kg.
• Where from: a circle 2.135 m across with a raised white stop board at the front.
• How: "The shot shall be put from the shoulder with one hand only."
• The start: from a stationary position inside the circle.
• The failure: touching the top of the rim, the top of the stop board or the ground outside during the put.
• The landing: the shot must first land inside the two white lines of the sector. Touching a line is a failure.
• Leaving: the athlete stays in the circle until the shot has landed, then leaves from the back half.
• The measurement: from the nearest mark made on first landing back to the inside edge of the rim.
• 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 circle is the throwing circle of the glossary, and the two styles of putting are the glide technique and the rotational technique.

Every put starts inside the same small circle and is measured back to its rim, so the result is what the athlete could do in that space and nothing else. The sector keeps the shot landing where the judges are ready for it and nobody else is standing.