A solid and reassuring performance saw veteran Christian Malcolm (coach: Dan Pfaff) ease through the first Round of the 200 and prgress to tomorrow's semi-final.

Malcolm secured his place in the semi-finals with a second place finish in heat three, recording a time of 20.59.

"It was alright, I expected a little bit more this morning, but I'm not an early morning person but the main thing is to qualify," he said.

The Cardiff AAC sprinter, at his fourth Olympic Games, recorded the 18th time overall and finished his race behind Maurice Mitchell of the USA.

In the other heats, the fastest time went to Alex Quinonez of Ecuador with 20.28, while France's Christophe Lemaitre split the three Jamaicans courtesy of his 20.34 - faster than Yohan Blake's 20.38 and Usain Bolt's 20.39.

The only athlete in the top five in the Round 1 rankings who will be in Christian Malcolm's semifinal is Warren Weir of Jamaica.