Usain Bolt breezes into 200m semis at track world championships

Usain Bolt continued his quest for another sprint double at the track and field world championships by cruising into the semifinals of the 200-metre event Tuesday in Beijing.

• Canada's Rodney joins Bolt in 200m semis
• RESULTS: Track and field world championships
• BROADCAST SCHEDULE: Track and field worlds on CBC, CBCSports.ca

The Jamaican star quickly pulled ahead of the field before easing through the finish line to win his heat in a time of 20.28 seconds.

Bolt is trying for his fourth consecutive 200m world title after winning the 100m for the third time on Sunday.

American Justin Gatlin, the man Bolt clipped at the line to win the 100, also placed first in his 200m heat Tuesday in 20.19.

Canada's Brendon Rodney advanced to the semis by running a personal-best 20.18, good for third in his heat and an automatic qualifying spot.

"I'm excited about [the race]," Rodney said. "Now I just have to execute again tomorrow."

The semifinals go Wednesday at 8:30 am. ET, and can be seen live on CBCSports.ca.

Canadian Aaron Brown ran 20.43 to finish fifth in his heat, failing to move on and complaining of a flu bug.

Andre De Grasse, who won bronze behind Bolt and Gatlin in the 100, isn't competing in the 200 at the end of a long season that saw him win both the 100 and 200 titles at the Pan Am Games and the NCAA championships.

De Grasse is expected to run for Canada in the 4x100 relay.

Rudisha regains title

World-record holder David Rudisha won his second world championship title in the 800 metres, finishing in 1 minute, 45.84 seconds.

The 2012 Olympic champion didn't defend his world title in Moscow in 2013 because of a knee injury that sidelined him for much of the season and was still working back into form ahead of the worlds.

European champion Adam Kszczot of Poland took silver in 1:46.08 and Amel Tuka earned Bosnia's first medal at the world championships, getting bronze at 1:46.30.

Rutherford wins long jump

Olympic champion Greg Rutherford won his first world championship title in the long jump with his season-best leap of 8.41 metres.

The 28-year-old from Great Britain set the winning mark on his fourth jump and passed on his last two attempts.

Former world indoor champion Fabrice Lapierre of Australia overtook two Chinese jumpers with his fifth attempt and took silver with a mark of 8.24. Wang Jianan took bronze at 8.18, with Chinese teammates Gao Xinglong and Li Jinzhe placing fourth and fifth.

Dibaba dominates

Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia pulled away halfway through the 1,500m final and never let anyone close again as she added the world title to her world record.

After a slow start, Dibaba kicked with two laps to go and finished in 4 minutes, 8.09 seconds — 0.87 seconds ahead of Faith Kipyegon of Kenya. Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands earned bronze, 1.25 behind.

Dibaba has been the dominating force in women's track this season, setting a world record in Monaco during the run-up to the world championships. She will be seeking to complete a 1,500-5,000 double next weekend.

Bett comes up big

Nicholas Bett of Kenya ran the fastest time this year to win the 400m hurdles title.

Bett, who had never broken 49 seconds at sea level before heading to China, now has a national record after his run in the outside lane at the Bird's Nest.

Denis Kudryavtsev earned silver in a Russian record 48.05 and Jeffrey Gibson took bronze in a Bahamas record 48.17.

The Americans, who had five of the top six places on the 2015 list heading into the championships, narrowly missed out on a medal.

Discus upset

Denia Caballero of Cuba won the discus title with her first throw, giving her a rare victory over defending Olympic and world champion Sandra Perkovic.

Caballero, the Pan-American Games champion, won with a mark of 69.28 metres. The Cuban had the season-leading throw of 70.65 metres heading into the championships and was the most consistent in the final.

Perkovic, the Diamond League winner in 2012, '13 and '14, moved from fourth place into the silver medal position with a final throw of 67.39.

The 25-year-old Croatian had lost only five times in 46 competitions across the previous four years.

Nadine Muller of Germany, the 2011 world championship silver medallist, finished third at 65.53.