GOETZIS (Austria), May 27: Decathlon world-record holder Roman Sebrle dropped out of the Hypo Meeting after just three events Saturday, complaining of muscle problems.

The Czech was a distant 22nd after managing only 11:27 seconds in the 100 meters, which American Bryan Clay took in 10:42, a lackluster 4.18-meter long jump and a 15.34-meter shot put.

With only the 400 meters left to go on the first day of competition, Clay led overall with 3,654 points after four events, followed by Dmitriy Karpov of Kazakhstan with 3,550 and Maurice Smith of Jamaica with 3,437.

Sweden's Carolina Kluft, heavily favored in the heptathlon, had 3,931 points after four events, closing out day one with a commanding lead.

Kluft, who won back-to-back world championships and Olympic gold in Athens in 2004, regained the lead after being briefly overtaken in the standings by Tia Hellebaut of Belgian, who had a 1.97-meter high jump _ a record for Goetzis' stadium.

Jessica Zelinka of Canada was in second place with 3,781, and Karin Ertl of Germany was third with 3,759. Hellebaut fell back to eighth place with 3,684.—Agencies