AUSTIN, Texas — As the reigning world champion in the decathlon, Trey Hardee should figure as the big favorite at the London Olympics.

He would be if not for a pinkish, 5-inch scar that curves around his right elbow.

Hardee had reconstructive surgery last September to repair a ligament he blew out while throwing the javelin at the world championships last summer. The injury occurred on his final throw, a personal best that locked up his second straight world decathlon title.

Now Hardee is pushing the elbow through an accelerated rehabilitation process aimed at competing in the U.S. Olympic trials in June. He insists he’ll be ready for the trials, and for London.

“At this point, (I) feel as good as I’ve ever felt,” Hardee told The Associated Press during an interview Wednesday at the Texas Relays. “The confidence grows every week. It’s as strong as it’s ever going to get and now we just have to train it and take baby steps in the pole vault and the javelin to get it ready to compete.”

Hardee, who trains in Austin, is entered in the long jump, discus and hurdles at the Texas Relays, the meet where he set the NCAA record in the decathlon for the University of Texas in 2006. He won’t do a complete decathlon until the Olympic trials.

Hardee and his personal coach, University of Texas associate head coach Mario Sategna, say they are trying to cut the usual 12-month recovery period down to nine. They have no choice. Misfire at the Olympic trials, and Hardee won’t go to London.

“We’re pushing it daily. … We’re not trying to test it every day, but we’re trying to loosen it up,” he said. “If I’m healthy and can pole vault and throw the javelin at 100 percent, I definitely consider myself the (Olympic) favorite because I haven’t lost a decathlon in so long.”

A couple of other Americans might have something to say about that — including Central Oregon’s Ashton Eaton. Eaton, a graduate of Bend’s Mountain View High School who went on to star at the University of Oregon (where the trials will be staged at Hayward Field), finished second at the World Championships and has set world records in the heptathlon three years in a row.

American Bryan Clay is the reigning Olympic champion. Hardee dropped out of the Beijing Games after not clearing any heights in the pole vault, knocking him out of fourth place.