The Castle High and Azusa Pacific alum who won Hawai'i's first Olympic medal in track and field in 2004 amassed 4,527 points.

Rival Roman Sebrle, Czech Republic, who beat out Clay for the gold medal in Athens, has 4,513.

Kristjan Rahnu of Estonia is third with 4,404 points. Aleksandr Pogorelov of Russia has 4,344 points.

Clay, 25, used a blazing start to power his way to a decisive triumph in his heat of the 100-meter dash, first of the grueling decathlon's 10 events over two days at Olympic Stadium.

Clay's 10.43 performance, worth 992 points, was just 7/100ths of a second off his career best in decathlon competition and left the rest of the 25-man decathlon field down the track.

The run enabled him to build a 111-point advantage over Seberle, who ran in 10.91 for 881 points.

Seberle, though, gained back ground in the long jump that followed the 100, spanning 25 feet, 9 inches to Clay's 24-9.

"It felt great," said Clay, cooling down after the 100.

"I had a couple of missteps here and there, but nothing serious.

"Probably, I could have run a little faster but I when I woke up this morning my legs were a little flat, and when I was warming up, so I didn't know what to expect. I can't complain, it feels all right."

Standings
(after five events)

1. Bryan Clay, United States, 4,527 points.
2. Roman Sebrle, Czech Republic, 4,513.
3. Kristjan Rahnu, Estonia, 4,404.
4. Aleksandr Pogorelov, Russia, 4,344.
5. Attila Zsivoczky, Hungary, 4,330.

Clay's results

100

• Heat 4—1, Bryan Clay, United States, 10.43, 992.

Long Jump

• Group B—1, Roman Sebrle, Czech Republic, 7.86, 25-9 1/2, 1,025. 2, Bryan Clay, United States, 7.54, 24-9, 945.

Shot Put

• Group A—1, Roman Sebrle, Czech Republic, 16.29, 53-5 1/2, 869. 2, Bryan Clay, United States, 16.25, 53-3A.

High Jump

• Group B—1, Attila Zsivoczky, Hungary, 2.15, 7-0 1/2, 944. 8, Bryan Clay, United States, 2.00, 6-6 3/4, 803.

400

• Heat 4—1, Hamdi Dhouibi, Tunisia, 47.04, 956. 2, Bryan Clay, United States, 47.78, 920.