Usain Bolt of Jamaica edged closer to "legendary" status by easing into the men's 200 meters final on Wednesday to secure his chances at the unprecedented Olympic sprint double-double.
Bolt has already made a successful defense of his 100m title in London and again the main opposition to another 200m triumph looks to be in the form of his teammate and training partner Yohan Blake.
Blake won the first semifinal in 20.01, jogging across the line with Wallace Spearmon right behind him running a 20.02.
But Bolt is confident he will double up.
"No doubt about it," he told BBC Sport. "This is my favorite event and I'm really looking forward to it."
Bolt appeared to be out for a casual jog and still won his heat easily, cruising past the rest of the field in 20.18 seconds. South Africa's Anaso Jobodwana finished second behind Bolt to automatically qualify for the finals.
The Netherlands' Churandy Martina won the third heat, in 20.17 seconds, advancing to the final along with Jamaica's forgotten runner, Warren Weir.
In Thursday's final, Bolt will attempt to do something never accomplished before in the Olympics: win gold in both the 100m and 200m in back-to-back Games.
To watch a live stream of the men's 200m final click here.
