EUGENE, Ore. — "I think I'm ready to break the world record," Bryan Clay declared.

But the 28-year-old graduate of Castle High School and Azusa Pacific University — who may be the finest all-around athlete on earth — also knows he must attend to the business of clinching a berth on the USA Olympic team before he can think of bigger and better things at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Such is life in the decathlon, the most demanding of all track and field events — actually 10 events wrapped into one, over a two-day stretch — where any single slip along the way can mean instant disaster.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Clay faced just such a moment in his fourth event of the U.S. Olympic Trials yesterday at the University of Oregon's storied Hayward Field.

His approach to the high jump bar was askew. His steps were out of sync. And so his first two attempts at 1.90 meters — a modest 6 feet, 2 3/4 inches — were failures. As the crossbar dropped into the rubberized pit, shudders might have been heard around the entire track and field world. After all, Clay had been labeled as "the man to beat" in the Beijing Olympics ever since he won the decathlon gold medal with a sensational performance at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

Another miss at 1.90 and dreams of Beijing glory — along with sweat-filled years of total dedication to the vision of success in China — would have been gone forever. And track fans would have brought back comparisons to world record-holder's Dan O'Brien's pole vault failure at the 1992 Olympic Trials in New Orleans.

It took the inner champion in Clay to — literally — rise to the occasion and avoid downfall.

He cleared 1.90 easily on his third attempt and all was saved.

The emergency at an end, Clay was soon on his way to much bigger and better things.

He got his approach steps worked out, and soared up and over subsequent bars placed at 1.93 meters (6-4), 1.96 meters (6-5), 1.99 meters (6-6 1/4), all on his first attempt, and then his second crack at 2.02 meters (6-7 1/2), his first at 2.05 (6-8 3/4), and his third at 2.08 meters (6-9 3/4).

Not until the bar reached 2.11 meters (6-11) — one centimeter over his all-time best — did Clay miss three times to finish the event.

This moment of truth over, Clay went on to run the 400 meters, his fifth and final event, in 48.43 seconds and thus wrap up a first-day total of 4,476 points, establishing a 22-point lead over top rival Trey Hardee, the former NCAA champion at the University of Texas.

"I had a pretty good first event (the 100) but I had a brain lapse on the second event (long jump) and let it carry over through the third event (shot put)," Clay said.

"I actually (high) jumped pretty well, after that little situation (the two misses at 1.90)."

Right behind Hardee's 4,454 at 4,405 was Tom Pappas, Clay's principal American opponent for the past five years and the 2003 world champion.

These three seem to have a clear advantage over the rest of the 19-man field heading into today's concluding five events — the 110-meter high hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1,500-meter run.

Tennessee's Jangy Addy (with 4,249 points) is fourth and Oregon's Ashton Eaton fifth (4,226).

Clay had opened his Olympic Trials bid with a 100-meter victory in 10.39 seconds, just 5/100ths behind his all-time best.

But he had difficulties negotiating the runway in the long jump, his second event, and settled for a 7.39-meter (24-3) best, far back of his all-time leader of 8.05 meters (26-5). Five others topped Clay's mark.

It was on to the shot put ring, where again Clay was shy of his best. A 15.17-meter (49-9 1/4) throw again couldn't compare with his best, 16.25 meters (53-3 3/4).

It was now time for the high jump — and Clay's moment of truth.

Reflecting on his overall first-day showing, Clay said, "the way my training has been going, I did poorly.

"My training (at Azusa Pacific, under coach Kevin Reid) has been going absolutely amazing," he said. "I just didn't put it together today like I should have.

"Normally, I'm pretty good mentally about coming out and just getting it done from the get-go and staying on it.

"Maybe I didn't come out here mentally prepared to fight for every little centimeter and every single 100th of a second.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to put that mental focus into my second day and put up some good marks."