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Bolt: Massive favourite
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Usain Bolt bids to do an impressive sprint double on Wednesday as he aims to become the first man in 24 years to win the Olympic 100 and 200m.
The Jamaican sprinter is a massive odds-on favourite to claim his second gold in Beijing and match the feat last achieved by Carl Lewis back in 1984.
His semi-final victory saw him clock 20.09 while barely breaking a sweat, a demoralising sight for his sprint rivals who have already seen him blow away the opposition in the 100m.
After not being certain to double up at the Games, Bolt proceeded to set a new world record time of 9.69 over the shorter distance.
Speciality
To make matters worse for his opponents the 200m is the 21-year-old's speciality. He holds the three fastest times of the year and with his form so good, it appears his only competition could be the clock.
The legendary Michael Johnson currently owns the world record of 19.32 but Bolt is only focused on one thing - making sure he's on top of that podium again.
"I was just trying to make sure I was in a good position, keeping an eye on the board and seeing where everyone else was," he said.
"I'm not really worried about the world record. I'm just coming here to win. That's the aim for me."
Competition
The American trio of Shawn Crawford, Wallace Spearmon and Walter Dix will be hoping to provide a challenge to Bolt, who puts his success down to his diet of chicken nuggets and his mother's yam mash.
Crawford is the defending champion and finished 0.03 of a second behind the heavy favourite in the second semi-final. albeit running a little harder than the man in the lane to his right.
He was followed home by Bolt's good friend Spearmon - a silver and bronze medallist in the 200m at the last two World Championships.
Dix had to work hard in the first semi-final to finish third in a race that was won by Churandy Martina from the Netherlands Antilles in a time of 20.11.
There is British interest in Christian Malcolm - a finalist eight years ago in Sydney when he finished fifth - as he qualified with a season's best time of 20.25.
