EUGENE, Ore. — Bryan Clay is prepared for his journey into the uncharted territory of a 9,100-point score — or better — in the decathlon, the classic 10-event competition that traditionally crowns its champion as "the world's finest athlete."

After registering a personal best of 8,832 points — the highest score by an American in 16 years, the best in the world over the past four years and a USA Olympic trials record — the 28-year-old Castle High School and Azusa Pacific University graduate declared himself ready to turn the great numbers game of the decathlon upside down.

Over 20,000 Hayward Field track and field devotees gave Clay — and his new Olympic teammates, Trey Hardee and Tom Pappas — rousing waves of applause last night as their personal sendoff salute to the Beijing-bound trio.

But Clay virtually promised something much better than 8,832 points in Beijing.

He might have gone far beyond 8,832 last night, too, if not for several delays in getting the concluding 1,500-meter race started.

"I really wanted to run the 1,500, but they kept delaying it and delaying it and delaying it," Clay said.

By the time the field was sent off, though, he'd lost something of his mental edge and so he settled for a 4:50.97 run in a race where he owns a personal best of 4:38.93.

"Come on, come on, I was so pumped up to run that 1,500, and that was something that was all new to me. ... I never get excited about running the 1,500," Clay said.

"Well, OK, I missed my target time by a little bit but I'm really, really happy the way it all turned out."

And why not?

First, he erased the Olympic trials record of 8,726 points Dan O'Brien had set in 1996. Next, he went beyond his own personal record score of 8,820 netted at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where he took the silver medal behind Roman Seberle's gold for the Czech Republic. Third, he inched forward on the all-time charts.

Clay continues to hold down the sixth spot on that list, but the gap is narrowing.

Other than Seberle, who has held the world record of 9,026 points since a 2001 meet in Gotzis, Austria, the only four ahead of him are Tomas Dvorak, another Czech star, who netted 8,994 points in 1999, American record-holder O'Brien (with 8,891 in 1992), Great Britain's Daley Thompson (8,847 in 1984) and Germany's Jurgen Hinsen (8,832 in 1983.)

Hardee, a former NCAA champion at the University of Texas, closed fast to snare second place with 8,534 points, while Tennessee grad Pappas, the 2003 world champion, who had been the pre-Games choice to win at Athens in 2000, only to bow out with a foot injury, continued his remarkable comeback by taking third at 8,511. In the process, Pappas became America's first-ever three-time Olympic decathlete.

With all that, it won't be easy for Clay in Beijing.

Before these trials, other leading performers on the world stage this year, according to International Association of Athletics Federation statistics, were Dmitry Karpov of Kazakhstan (who totaled 8,504 points), Alexy Sysoev of Russia (8,497) and Cuba's Leonel Suarez (8,451.)

Clay had assorted difficulties in Sunday's first five events but put it all together yesterday.

He opened with a 13.75 in the 110-meter high hurdles, moved over to the discus circle and got one out 170 feet, pole vaulted 16 feet, 4 3/4 inches, hurled the javelin 220-5, and wrapped it all up with the 4:50.97 in the 1,500 meters.

"I think if I can take the same mind-set I had today into the (Beijing) Games, and really get after all my events, and make things happen, and do every single thing I do in training, that I have done for the last four years, I know I will come home with the gold medal," Clay said.

"I really believe that, if I can do exactly what I did today — just staying focused and doing my job, the 9,000-point score is there. I think it was there the past two days. I just had a bad few events Sunday.

"That's something most people don't understand. You can have two good events, you can have three good events, it is very, very difficult to have 10 good events.

"The day that I put together good events is the day that I will score 9,100 points."