Bolt safely into 200m semi-finals

Two-time defending champion Usain Bolt on Friday safely negotiated his way into the semi-finals of the 200m at the World Athletics Championships.

The 26-year-old Jamaican, who won the 200m titles in Berlin in 2009 and Daegu in 2011 and is also double Olympic champion and world record holder in the event, clocked an easy-going 20.66sec.

After a good start, Bolt was up on the field in a matter of metres and seemed to ease off fully 40 metres from the finish line.

"I'm feeling good. I'm not a morning person. I worked really hard this week," said Bolt, who has been nursing a sore foot after regaining his 100m title on Sunday.

"It's feeling better," he said. "I have worked on it for the last four days."

He will be joined by all the main favourites in Saturday's semi-finals, with the final to round off the evening session of day eight of action at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Jamaican teammates Warren Weir, the Olympic bronze medallist from London, Nickel Ashmeade and debutant Jason Livermore all went through.

"It was good to race after waiting for such a long time, " admitted Weir. "I was a bit anxious to race. I'm glad to come out and get my first round done."

And the United States will be represented by four-time world medallist Wallace Spearmon, Curtis Mitchell and Isiah Young.

Spearmon seemed to struggle in his heat before producing a strong final 20 metres to nail third spot.

Having suffered concussion after a clash with two other athletes while training in the United States, Spearmon insisted that Bolt was only human.

"I reckoned before coming here you would have to run 9.5sec (to beat Bolt), but I think the way Bolt is running, it's more like 9.7sec," he said.

"Can he be beaten? Of course he can. We're getting used to him."

British duo James Ellington and Adam Gemili both qualified in style after winning their respective heats, the latter in a personal best of 20.17sec.

They will be joined by teammate Delano Williams, the Jamaica-based Turks and Caicos athlete who was confirmed to run for the British team in June.

Also in the mix are Panama's Alonso Edward, the 2009 world silver medallist, South African Anaso Jobodwana.

Bolt has kept a low profile since he powered to victory in Sunday's 100m final, regaining the title he lost when he was disqualified for a false start in Daegu two years ago.

A gold on Saturday would push him one step further to equalling the present mark of eight world gold medals won by retired American duo Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson.

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