Shot Put

"Shot Put, The Manliest of all manlyness sports, the greatest of all competitions!" - Mark Constancio

The shot put is an athletics (track and field) event involving "putting" (throwing in a pushing motion) a heavy metal ball, also called the shot, as far as possible.

Competitors take their throw from inside a circle 2.1 metres (7 feet) in diameter. They must rest the shot in between the neck and shoulder, and push their throwing arm straight when they throw. The thrower must push the ball out and not throw it like a tennis ball. The shotputters must leave the circle over the rear half of the circle. The distance thrown is measured from the front of the circle to where the shot has landed.

Each competitor gets a certain number of throws, usually 6 in elite competition, and the competitor with the furthest legal put is declared the winner. In men's competition, the shot weighs approximately 7.26 kilograms (16 pounds). The women's shot weighs 4 kg. At the junior schools level the weights are usually 12 pound (5.44 kg) shots for boys and 4 kg shots for girls, these are sometimes known as practice shots.