Usain Bolt eases through to 100m Olympics Semi Final

BEIJING (Reuters) – Usain Bolt delivered a stunning demonstration of his sprinting talent when he clocked 9.92 seconds to reach the Olympic 100 meters semi-finals while barely breaking sweat on Friday.

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)