BEIJING 2008 OLYMPICS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Castle's Bryan Clay took flight in the long jump during the first day of competition in the decathlon today.
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Clay’s flying start
Rain fails to keep him from clocking the best 100 meters and top long jump in his group
Bryan Clay, a Castle High School graduate from Kaneohe, held the lead with two firsts and a second in the first three events of the Olympic decathlon in Beijing today.
Clay won the long jump with a season-best 7.78 meters, scoring 1,005 points on his second jump. It was the best jump among the 40 competitors.
Clay ran the 100 meters in 10.44 seconds, the best time in the five heats. The time gave him 989 points.
He was second in the shot put with a heave of 16.27 meters worth 868 points. Aleksandr Pogorelov of Russia won the shot with 16.53.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Volunteers swept the track with brooms in heavy rain today before the start of the morning athletics competitions in the National Stadium. Despite the downpour, events went on as scheduled, including the start of the decathlon featuring Hawaii's Bryan Clay.
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Clay has 2,862 points overall. Oleksiy Kasyanov of the Ukraine is second with 2,717. Trey Hardee, second to U.S. teammate Clay in the 100 and long jump, is third with 2,657.
Clay was the silver medalist in the 2004 decathlon in Athens.
The decathlon, in modern Olympic games, is a contest for men held over two days and composed of 10 track-and-field events. It consists of the long jump; the high jump; the discus throw; the shot put; the javelin throw; the 100-, 400-, and 1,500-meter races; the 110-meter hurdle race; and the pole vault.
The decathlon became an Olympic event in 1912. The winner is popularly regarded as the "world's greatest athlete."