Shawn Crawford, the fastest man in the world so far this year at 9.88, cruised home in 10.02. Justin Gatlin won his heat in 10.07 as all three Americans went through.
So did other contenders -- Asafa Powell of Jamaica, Francis Obikwelu of Portugal and world champion Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis. Joining them in the second round was Namibia's Frank Fredericks, the silver medalist at the 1992 and 1996 games.
Thirteen days after undergoing knee surgery, world champion Jana Pittman made a remarkable comeback by winning her preliminary heat of the women's 400m hurdles.
The Australian, who tore cartilage in her right knee while warming up for a race and quickly had arthroscopic surgery in hopes of running in Athens, won her heat in 54.83 seconds. The best time of the first round was 53.57 by Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia.
In the women's 400, gold-medal contender Ana Guevara of Mexico slowed so much in the final meters that she had to speed back up momentarily when she saw competitors catching up.
She won her first-round heat in 50.93.
Sanya Richards of the US set the fastest time in qualifying at 50.11 seconds.
10,000m throne
Kenenisa Bekele used a breathtaking final 400 meters late Friday night to claim the Olympic 10,000-meter throne previously occupied by his Ethiopian countryman, Haile Gebrselassie.
The soft-spoken 22-year-old champion is not finished in Athens. He will be the favorite again in the 5,000 meters, attempting to become the fifth man -- and first in 24 years -- to achieve the Olympic distance-running double.
Gebrselassie, seeking his third consecutive Olympic title in the event, finished in a painful fifth place, nearly dropping out because of an Achilles' tendon injury. He has long said it would be his final race on the track; the 31-year-old will now turn his attention to the marathon.
He leaves the 10,000 in good hands. With a jaw-dropping 53.02-second final lap, Bekele won in 27 minutes, 5.10 seconds, breaking Gebreselassie's Olympic record by more than two seconds.
Sileshi Sihine gave Ethiopia a 1-2 finish, earning the silver medal in 27:09.39. Zersenay Tadesse of Eretria took the bronze at 27:22.57.
RSS