Clay won the two-day decathlon with 8,506 points, followed by Paul Terek with 7,976 and Phil McMullen with 7,795.

They earned spots on the U.S. team at the world championships in Helsinki on Aug. 6 to 14.

"It was all right," Clay said. "It wasn't anything special. We came out, got the job done, the score was decent, and now we'll get ready for Helsinki."

In the other decathlon events yesterday, Clay:

• won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.06 seconds;

• placed third in the pole vault in 16 feet, 4 3/4 inches (Terek won in 17-0 3/4);

• was second in the javelin with a 196-11 (Chris Boyles won in 199-4);

• finished 11th in the 1,500-meter run in 4:57.11 (McMullen won in 4:19.16).

Clay amassed 4,322 points in the first five events Thursday.

Tom Pappas, the 2003 world decathlon champion, underwent shoulder surgery a month ago and will not compete until next season.

In other news, Marion Jones grabbed her warmup clothes and walked off the track moments before the start of the 100-meter preliminaries, a stunning exit for the woman who once dominated the event.

Jones' agent, Charles Wells, said that she had a hip flexor injury and would not compete in the 200 meters, either. The injury, he said, occurred two weeks ago during training.

"She worked out and thought she was ready to go. She got to the track and it started bothering her, and she decided not to risk it," Wells said.