The 21-year-old, who eased up before setting a record of 9.69 in the 100m on Saturday, allowed himself no such indulgence in the longer race and dipped over the line to take two hundredths of a second off Michael Johnson’s 1996 mark.

“It’s great, I have a great feeling, it is a dream come true,” Bolt told reporters. “I never expected this. I knew the track was a fast track but I didn’t think this was possible. I’m shocked, I’m still shocked.

“I have been aspiring to the world record for so long.”

Churandy Martina of the Netherland Antilles was second in 19.82 and defending champion Shawn Crawford of the United States, who ran 19.96, was bumped up to bronze after compatriot Wallace Spearmon was disqualified for stepping out of his lane.

U.S. Track and Field protested against the disqualification but later accepted it. They then lodged a protest against Martina, saying he had also stepped out of his lane.

For the second time in five days, though, the Bird’s Nest belonged to the super-cool Bolt.

He struck a series of poses as the television cameras settled on him before he took to his blocks but again he got away cleanly and was well clear of his rivals by the halfway point.

There was no showboating over the final stages on Wednesday, however, and he maintained his form and loping stride before sneaking a glance at the clock as crossed the line about seven meters clear of Martina.

“It’s ridiculous,” said former 100 meters world champion Kim Collins, who finished seventh. “He’s doing it and making it look so simple. When Michael Johnson did it, it didn’t look that easy.

“It’s brutal. It’s a brutal ass-whipping we took. It’s terrible here.”

American Carl Lewis was the last man to win both sprints at the same Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Bolt became just the ninth athlete to achieve the feat.

The previous world record of 19.32 was set by American Johnson in the 1996 Olympics final.

“Superman 2 — incredible,” Johnson told BBC TV. “He wanted that record. This is his favorite event, he went for it, he came in focused on it, knowing he would most likely win the gold.”

Bolt, the 6ft 5in (1.96m) former world junior champion, owned the best time 200 time of this year (19.67) and finished second behind American Tyson Gay at the 2007 world championships.

STRONG FAVOURITE

When an injury at the U.S. trials deprived Gay of the chance to run the 200m in Beijing, Bolt immediately became a strong favorite for the event.

Bolt’s coach Glen Mills had always wanted him to emulate Johnson by doubling up in the 200 and 400 but he had never enjoyed the tougher training for the one-lap event.

The pair reached an agreement last year that if he broke the Jamaican 200m record of 1976 Olympic champion Don Quarrie, he would be allowed to try the 100 and the reggae-loving Bolt duly delivered.

The impressive 10.03 seconds he ran in his first 100 race in 2007 was just a prelude to his remarkable assault on the event in 2008 and he has now set two new world marks.

A keen cricketer before he turned to athletics, Bolt first announced his talent when he became the youngest world junior champion by winning the 200m in Kingston in 2002 at the age of 15.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

Although it can be dangerous to read too much into heat times, Bolt’s world record of 9.72 looks in serious danger in Saturday’s final and though Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay also eased through, the rangy Jamaican 21-year-old looks unstoppable.

“I just ran the first 50 meters then I looked around to make sure I was safe and I shut it off,” said Bolt, whose odds of becoming the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to do the Olympic sprint double have shortened considerably.

Gay, whose morning heat was his first race since he pulled a hamstring five weeks ago, had to work far harder for his 10.09 behind heat winner Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago.

Powell ran the fourth-quickest time in 10.02 to advance with seven other Caribbean athletes.

(Additional reporting by Gene Cherry; Editing by Ed Osmond)

The 21-year-old Jamaican, aiming to become the first man for 24 years to do the Olympic sprint double, started slowly but soon got into his huge loping stride and crossed the line in 10.20 seconds.

Powell, the former record holder, comfortably qualified for the quarter-finals in 10.16, the third best time of the morning, despite suffering from stomach ache.

“It felt good,” the 25-year-old told reporters. “My stomach felt bad after breakfast.”

American Gay had the closest race but looked untroubled by the hamstring injury he suffered at the U.S. trials last month and won his heat in 10.22.

“It (my hamstring) feels good,” he said. “I felt a little sluggish in the first round but my body has woke up now.”

WORLD MARK

Bolt slowed towards the end but still easily won his heat and, even if his time was well outside the 9.72 he ran to take Powell’s world mark in May, he clearly had plenty in reserve.

Powell cantered through the first 80 metres of his heat before slowing almost to a jog and allowing former world champion Kim Collins of St Kitts and Nevis to nearly catch him.

Britain’s Tyrone Edgar ran the quickest time of the morning session in 10.13 seconds, two hundredths faster than another Jamaican Michael Frater, who predicted a possible Caribbean sweep in the blue riband sprint.

“There’s a very good chance,” Frater said. “We’re going to have six Caribbeans in the final.”

China’s best sprinter, the bespectacled Hu Kai, got huge support from a big crowd in the 91,000-seat Bird’s Nest but finished fourth in his heat and missed out on qualification.

“I did not start well,” he said. “I didn’t feel any pressure at all, I felt excited.”

With the fastest three men of all time going head-to-head, the 100 metres is one of the most highly-anticipated events of the 10-day athletics competition.

The second round is on Friday evening with the semis and final on Saturday. (Editing by Ed Osmond)

There had been hopes that Bolt appear in the French capital for what would have been a mouthwatering race with Gay on July 18.

But Bolt has rejected an invitation to appear at the Stade de France, the Jamaican preferring to prepare for the Olympic Games without meeting one of his nearest rivals – at least for the moment.

“Bolt doesn’t wish to face Gay a second time. He wants to run peacefully,” said meet director Gérard Rousselle.

Ricky Simms, Bolt’s agent confirmed his absence but refused to rule out the possibility of a showdown before this summer’s Olympic Games.

Eurosport UK