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Triple Olympic champion Jamaican Usain Bolt cruised into the second round of the 200 metres at the World Championships in Berlin, 36 hours after shattering the 100m world record to win gold.

On a chilly and windy morning, Bolt looked a bit stiff round the bend but was still in command of his heat, winning in 20.70 seconds.

With 2007 champion Tyson Gay out with a groin injury that flared up following his defeat to Bolt in the shorter sprint, the Jamaican world record holder is the overwhelming favourite to win the title on Thursday.

American Shawn Crawford, silver medallist behind Bolt in the Olympics last year, clocked the best overall time of 20.60s to ease into the second round.

"I did what I was supposed to do. I tried to get as many cobwebs out as I could," Crawford said.

Compatriot Wallace Spearmon, who initially thought he had won bronze in the Beijing Games only to be disqualified after stepping out of his lane, joined him with a run of 20.66s.

Apart from Bolt, Spearmon is the only other runner in the field to have cracked the 20s mark this season.

British sprint veteran Marlon Devonish clocked 20.92s to win his heat, while former 100m world champion Kim Collins finished fourth in heat seven and had to sweat it out before going through in 20.83s.

Churandy Martina of the Netherland Antilles, who was also disqualified after finishing second in Beijing, did not start, with Briton Dwain Chambers also absent.

The second round heats take place later on Tuesday and the semi-finals on Wednesday.

Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt and world champion Jeremy Wariner stayed on course for an all-American world men's 400m showdown as they cruised through the opening round.

Merritt slowed noticeably in the closing metres but still won his race in 45.23s, fifth fastest on the day.

Wariner, the 2005 and 2007 world champion and 2004 Olympic gold medallist, eased through to Wednesday's semi-finals by winning his preliminary in 45.54s.

Ramon Miller of the Bahamas ran a lifetime best of 45.00s to lead qualifying.

The final is on Friday.

High jump world champion Blanka Vlasic, a surprise loser in Beijing where she had been a hot favourite, also went through untroubled to Thursday's final.

Germany's Ariane Friedrich, the 2009 world leader with 2.06 metres and another with a point to prove after her own Olympic disappointment, needed only one jump to join her.

World and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter wasted little time in qualifying for Wednesday's men's discus final when he comfortably threw his opening attempt 66.73 metres.

Double world and Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna, Beijing silver medalist Piotr Malachowski and Berlin-based Robert Harting, a real local hero who won silver in Osaka as a 22-year-old, also went through safely.

All the favourites avoided trouble in some jostling in the women's 1,500 metres heats. The semi-finals are on Friday with the final on Sunday, the last day of competition.

There are five medals available in the evening session - the men's 400m hurdles, steeplechase and triple jump and the women's 400m and javelin.

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Reuters