INDIANAPOLIS — The first lightning bolt hit the AT USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships yesterday with Bryan Clay's shocking withdrawal from the decathlon after four events.

Carroll Stadium fans had hoped for a big-time, high-points duel between Hawai'i's Clay, the 2005 World Championships gold medal winner, and Tennessee's Tom Pappas, the 2003 World titlist.

But the script took a huge twist when 27-year-old Clay, the celebrated graduate of Castle High School and Azusa Pacific University, opted not to run the 400 meters, fifth of the decathlon's 10 events.

He said he wasn't injured, "just a little beat-up."

He said he simply wasn't going to push his body to the point of risking injury.

And, with his place in the upcoming World Championships (late August in Osaka, Japan) assured by virtue of his status as defending champion, it was the better course of valor.

"I had a big decathlon (in late May) in Gotzis, Austria, went and did that, and came out of it with a little bit of knee pain, elbow pain, and stuff like that.

"It just wasn't there today, I could tell, the body wasn't quite feeling up to par, I was just a little off."

So he'll go back to his California training base and spend much of the next two months training for Osaka.

His day looked promising when his 100-meter dash went off at in the morning. He opened with a decisive 10.58-second victory, worth 956 points.

But things began to unravel — as he felt the first "dings" in the long jump.

He spanned 7.18 meters (23 feet, 6 3/4 inches), adding another 857 points, but still it was subpar. His career long jump best is 8.05 meters (26 feet, 5 inches).

Next came a 15.74-meter (51 feet, 7 3/4-inch) shot put for a score of 806 and a subtotal of 2,648 points, improving his outlook. It wasn't far off his lifetime best of 16.25 meters (53 feet, 3 3/4 inches).

In the high jump, Clay cleared 1.93 meters (6 feet, 4 inches), but it wasn't close to his personal record of 2.10 meters (6 feet, 10 3/4 inches). His score now was 3,388 but the decision to withdraw came soon after.

"At that point, we (Clay and his entourage led by coach Kevin Reid and agent Paul Doyle) just thought it would be better if we went home and worked out," he said.

"We just didn't want to risk anything. The No. 1 goal, of course, has always been Osaka. That's the thing that's at the top of all our minds right now. When your body's beginning to tell you not to do things, it's smart to listen."

So Pappas, who'd gone into the lead after the long jump, stayed there through three more events and went home with a first-place total of 4,394 points, 160 better than second-place Paul Terek, his 2004 Olympic teammate with Clay.

They appear to have separated themselves from the 12 others still competing — with Chris Boyles (4,094 points), Ryan Harlan (4,076) and Ryan Olkowski (4,066) in third through fifth, respectively.

Lots of ironies were attached to Clay's withdrawal.

For one, it was his second consecutive DNF ("did not finish") at Carroll Stadium. Weakened and suffering from hypoglycemia in intense heat at the 2006 Nationals, he bowed out after seven events.

For another, as he stepped away, it was opening the door to Pappas, who has endured his own major physical difficulties. Favored to win going into the 2004 Athens Olympics, he was forced out with a foot injury.

For a third, Clay may actually be in the best basic shape of his life. He'd reached the halfway point at Gotzis with the best five-event total of his life, 4,593 points. But two long discus throws that sailed foul wrecked his ambitions and he wound up third back of Belarus' Andrei Krauchanka and Czech Republic's Roman Seberle, the world record-holder and 2004 Olympic champion.

A classic battle between these two, along Clay and Pappas, may be in the cards for Osaka.

"I thought I'd be OK here, but I guess I wasn't," Clay said.

"We just need to get rid of these nagging little things and we'll be fine."