BERLIN (AP) — Trey Hardee of the United States posted two personal bests to lead the decathlon after three events at the world championships Wednesday.
Hardee ran a season best of 10.45 seconds in the opening 100 meters to take command of the two-day event at the very start.
He then followed with personal bests in the long jump and the shot put for a total of 2,814 points.
Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine was second at 2,789 and Aleksandr Pogorelov of Russia was third at 2,695.
Hardee long jumped 7.83 meters and had an effort of 15.33 meters in the shot put. Hardee finished second earlier this summer at the prestigious decathlon meet in Goetzis, Austria.
Kasyanov, usually near the top at the end of the first day, had a heave of 15.72 in the shot put but it was Pogorelov who had the best throw of the day at 1.65 to jump five places into third. Pogorelov was fourth at the Olympic Games in Beijing last year.
Yunior Diaz of Cuba was fourth overall at 2,689 points and the 34-year-old defending champion Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic was in fifth at 2,623.
Another American, Ashton Eaton, had a poor shot put with a best of 12.26 meters to drop from second to sixth.
Bryan Clay, the winner at the Beijing Olympics and the 2005 world champion, is not in Berlin because he missed the U.S. trials with an injury.
Maurice Smith of Jamaica, the silver medalist two years ago, dropped out of the competition after suffering a left-thigh injury in the opening sprint.
Smith pulled up halfway through the 100 and slowed to a walk as he crossed in 29.42 seconds. He was treated on the track and limped away with a bandage on his thigh.
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