BEIJING — Jan Zelezny, the three-time Olympic javelin champion, continues being amazed by Bryan Clay's ability to fling the spear humongous distances.

"Bryan Clay is incredible," said Zelezny, in a break between decathlon events Thursday at the "Bird's Nest" stadium.

"He is a smaller man but he always beats the bigger men. It just goes to show that how big you are isn't everything. You can make up for it many ways.

"Clay does it with his great technique, and his great fighting spirit.

"He believes in hismelf and has such a big heart."

Zelezny, representing the Czech Republic, won his Olympic javelin golds at Barelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, and Sydney in 2000. His 1996 throw of 98.48 meters remains the world record.

But Clay is a superb javelin thrower, too. His all-time best in the javelin is 72.00 meters, one of the longest in decathlon history.

Even though he stands 5 feet 10, weighs 185, and is surrounded by much bigger men every time he lines up for a decathlon, Clay traditionally separates himself from his rivals in the throws.

"He amazes me by this special ability," said Zelezny.

After winning both the opening 100-meter dash in 10.44 seconds and the second event, the long jump, at 7.78 meters on this rainy morning at the "Bird's Nest," Clay moved over to the shot put and unleashed a best-ever throw of 16.27 meters.

Thirty-seven men started out in the decathlon, and just one of them, Alexander Pogorelov of Russia, with a 16.53, beat Clay in the shot.

So, with three events down and two more to go Thursday night, followed by the final five events on Friday, Clay has a comfortable overall lead in the hunt for his first Olympic gold medal.

He's netted 2,862 points, with Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine next best at 2,717 and U.S. teammate Trey Hardee third at 2,657.

The discus is the second of Friday's five events and the javelin is fourth.

Clay holds the world decathlon record in the discus at 55.87 meters and figures to gain further ground there. The pole vault follows and then it's over to the javelin, one more of Clay's strengths.

So, while the weather remains hazy and grey following the rain, Clay's outlook is rosy.

Historically, the U.S. and the Czech Republic have provided the highest scorers in decathlon annals.

Czech Republic's Roman Seberle — who beat Clay for the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics — has owned the world record of 9,026 points since 2001.

Czech teammate Tomas Dvorak, with his 8,994 score in 1999, ranks No. 2 all-time.

America's Dan O'Brien ranks third on his 8,891 in 1992, and Clay is sixth on the all-time charts with the 8,832 he registered winning the USA Olympic Trials, June 30 and July 1 at Eugene, Ore.

Seberle is still in this one, but not up to his usual standards. He managed just a 14.78 in the shot put, and ranks just ninth after three events.

"Roman will gain some ground, I think, but I don't think he can catch Bryan Clay," said Zelezny. "Then again, a lot of things can happen in the 10 events of the decathlon.

"I'm glad I never did a decathlon. One event, my specialty, was always enough for me."