Overcoming illness and injury, former Kane'ohe resident Bryan Clay won gold in the heptathlon yesterday at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain.

Clay, who entered the day with a 174-point lead, won one of the final three events to amass a personal-best 6,371 points for his second world title.

Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus was second with 6,234 points and Dimitriy Karpov of Kazakhstan third with 6,131. Donovan Kilmartin, Clay's U.S. teammate, finished fifth with 5,951. Olympic champion Roman Sebrle, who was second after the first day, withdrew because of an injury.

Clay, a 28-year-old Castle High alum now living in Glendora, Calif., was pleased with his performance, particularly after a recent battle with the flu and an injured hamstring.

"I was sick and then I was hurt," said Clay, who recently lost 12 pounds. "Two weeks ago I would have told you that I wouldn't even be able to compete here. This just shows how well my training is going."

Yesterday, Clay opened the competition by winning the 60-meter hurdles in 7.86 seconds to add 1,017 to his point total. Andres Raja of Estonia was second in 8.03, and Mikhail Logvinenko third in 8.08. Sebrle, the world decathlon record holder, hit the second hurdle hard and apparently injured his left hamstring. He was carried off on a stretcher.

Clay then finished fourth in the pole vault, clearing 5 meters (16 feet, 5 inches) for 910 points. Krauchanka won the event with 5.3 meters, followed by Karpov (5.20) and Kilmartin (5.10).

In the final event, Clay could have set a record point total by clocking under 2 minutes, 45.47 seconds in the 1,000-meter run. However, he finished last among the six competitors in 2:55.64 — still his season best — for 708 points. Logvinenko won in 2:44.69, followed by Krauchanka (2:46.49) and Karpov (2:47.45).

Clay won four of the seven events — 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put and 60-meter hurdles — in the meet to capture his first indoor title.