Usain Bolt began his bid to win the sprint double at London Olympics by cruising into the 200m semi-finals.
The 25-year-old Jamaican was joined by countrymen Yohan Blake and Warren Weir, with America's Wallace Spearmon, France's Christophe Lemaitre and Briton Christian Malcolm also through.GB's James Ellington failed to qualify after finishing sixth in his heat.Bolt won his heat in 20.39 seconds ahead of the 200m semi-finals on Wednesday and the final on Thursday.Four-time Olympic champion Bolt, who successfully defended his 100m crown on Sunday, is also attempting to retain his 200m title from Beijing.After what was approaching a jog, he told BBC Sport: "The crowd is always wonderful, they play an important role in my running and I love my 200m.
"I try to do my part, I know what comes with winning, so all I have to do is try and enjoy it."
Blake, who also ran a comfortable race 20.38 seconds and won the 100m silver medal, said: "I'm good and I'm healthy. I'm giving credit to my coach, because the 100m taught me a lot.
"It was my first medal in the Olympics. 200m is my better event because I have more speed endurance."
Despite his vast experience, Malcolm, 33, said he was anxious about competing in front of such a huge home crowd.But Ellington, who auctioned himself on Ebay to raise funds for his training, was stunned by his run as he could only manage 21.23 seconds in the final heat of the session.
"I don't know what to say," the 26-year-old told BBC Sport. "It's the slowest race I've done all year. I felt good in the warm-up, and I thought I was going to run fast but came off the bend and had no gas left.
"Training has been being going well in Portugal, Im just gutted. People like [European bronze medallist] Dan Talbot, I just feel like I've taken someone else's place and I feel like I let the team down."
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