The United States' decathlon great Bryan Clay has been denied a chance to defend his title in the 2012 London Games after being disqualified at the U.S. Olympic trials on Saturday.

Clay suffered a stumble in Saturday's 110m hurdles at Eugene, Oregon to cross the finish line in a poor timing of 16.8 seconds, being disqualified in his heat for not clearing the last hurdle.

He had been third overall after the first day of the 10-event competition but fell to the 16th after the hurdles. Only the top three from the meet will earn berths to the London Olympics.

Clay won the 2008 Beijing Games decathlon with a margin of 240 points, the greatest at the Olympics since 1972. He's the first American winning the decathlon since Dan O'Brien in 1996.

Last year's world champion Ashton Eaton and reigning world champion Trey Hardee are now leading the decathlon standings in the U.S. trials after six events.