Bolt, 2 Canadians qualify for men's 200m semis

Two nights after winning gold in the 100 metres, Bolt easily won his 200-metre qualifying heat, glancing to his right and eventually left as he trotted past the finish line in 20.39 seconds.

That was well outside the world record of 19.19 he set at the 2009 world championships, but one that could be in danger of being broken in the semifinals and final on Thursday.

"I was taking it as easy as possible. It's my first [200] run. I'm looking forward to tomorrow," said Bolt, who runs in the semifinals Wednesday as he tries to become the only man with two Olympic titles in the 200.

Jared Connaughton of New Haven, P.E.I., and Toronto's Aaron Brown both advanced to the semis. Connaughton was third in his heat with a time 20.72.

"I probably shut it down a little early. I went through so that's all that counts," Connaughton said in a news release. "Need to just concentrate on my lane. I'm prepared and ready to make the final, [it] will take around 20.20, I'm in good shape, I can get dialed in and run that."

Meanwhile, Brown matched his personal best of 20.55.

"I was so nervous, it is crazy out there," Brown said. "The crowd is so loud and I'm standing next to the best guys in the world. I tied my personal best so going to be confident in the semis, I can run with these guys.

"I'm not a real morning person so that didn't help. At around 120 metres, I felt the lactic acid but I said 'no way man this is the Olympics' and just found another gear, [and] ran guys down."

Chinese hurdler hopes dashed

Former world-record holder and 2004 Olympic champion Liu stumbled into the first hurdle and fell to the track in his opening heat of the London Games on Tuesday, his second consecutive first-round exit in the 110-metre hurdles.

Four years ago in Beijing, Liu's Olympics ended after two full strides, when he withdrew from his preliminary heat with right foot and hamstring injuries.

"That's two Olympics in a row he's limped off with an Achilles problem — I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy," said British runner Andrew Turner, who won the heat that Liu failed to finish and helped to carry Liu off the track.

There will also be more disappointment in China, where Liu is a national hero. The international edition of the China Daily newspaper's headline on a front-page story Tuesday read: "Liu ready to atone for 2008 disaster." Instead, it was more of the same four years later.