EUGENE, Ore. -- Bryan Clay had to remind himself he was better than the performances he was leaving on the track and in the jumping pits of Hayward Field.
Clay, the Athens decathlon silver medalist and 2005 world champion, opened the U.S. Olympic trials with a fine 100-meter time, matching his personal-best of 10.39 seconds. But swirling winds in the long jump led him to change his approach, which threw off his rhythm and dogged him from one event to the next.
Clay led the field after the first day, but by only 22 points. With a berth on the Beijing team within his reach but not yet in his grasp, Clay took a hard look at himself and wasn't entirely pleased with what he saw.
The Glendora resident, who still trains with the coach who guided him at Azusa Pacific, Kevin Reid, started strong on Monday with a personal-best 13.75 in the 110-meter hurdles. After that he never looked back, compiling a career-best 8,832 points and setting a record for the U.S. Olympic trials.
Trey Hardee of Austin, Texas, finished second with 8,534 points and Oregon native Tom Pappas delighted the crowd by grabbing the final berth with 8,511 points and becoming the first American to make three Olympic decathlon teams.
But it was Clay who carried the night, willing himself to be calm and cool and use his head as much as his legs and arms and torso.
"A lot of times in the decathlon when you try harder you do worse," he said. "It's a fine line between coming out this morning and saying, 'I'm going to get it done today,' and saying that and then trying and messing everything up."
Clay, who won the 100, high jump, discus and javelin, came close to the American record of 8,891 points set by Dan O'Brien in 1992. Clay said he really wanted that mark and was "OK" with setting the trials record, but after reflecting for a while, he realized what a tremendous feat this really was.
If he needed uncommon strength to uncork the top discus throw of the day, 173 feet, and follow that with solid efforts in the pole vault (16 feet 4 3/4 inches) and javelin (231 feet, 5 inches), it paled beside the deep resolve he needed to pull himself away from the brink of self-doubt.
"I think this is one of the toughest decathlons I've had to deal with just because I was caught so off-guard at the beginning," he said.
But not at the end.
By the final event, the 1,500, Clay was able to jog home in the 13th-best time, 4 minutes, 50.97 seconds. Afterward, he flung himself onto the track on his back, gasping for air for several seconds.
