Olympics: Usain Bolt breezes into 200m semi-finals

London: Usain Bolt opened the defence of his Olympic 200-metre title with a comfortable win in the opening round on Tuesday, easing up to a jog over the final 80 metres to finish in 20.39 seconds.

The Jamaican, who won the 100 metres on Sunday night in an Olympic-record 9.63 seconds, will race again on Wednesday in the 200m semifinals. The final is on Thursday.

Bolt's team-mate, 100-meter silver medalist Yohan Blake, won his heat easily in 20.38. The third Jamaican, Warren Weir, finished his race in 20.29, 0.01 slower than the morning's fastest time, posted by Ecuador's Alex Quinonez.

The Jamaican, who finished the heat in 20.39 seconds, will race again on Wednesday in the 200m semi-finals.

Also advancing were Wallace Spearmon of the US (20.47), Christophe Lemaitre of France (20.34) and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands (20.58), who finished second in 2008 but was disqualified for running out of his lane.

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