At a public strength trial contestants must strike a nearly ten-ton meteorite; distances decide pass (3 ft), excellent (10 ft), or 'chosen' (20 ft). Some in the crowd mock a singled-out "loser" and warn he'll be humiliated if others find out. The Flynn family's second son opens with 3.5 feet, then another contestant scores 10.1 feet and earns praise. Under his father's encouragement, Maximus strikes and sends the meteorite twenty-one feet, declared a chosen one. The win reshuffles the contest order, but the mocked competitor remains exposed, promising immediate fallout.