Lightning Bolt is ready to strike Olympic gold for Jamaica - in record time

Usain Bolt is not so bold or cocksure that he said it in as many words but the implication was clear after he ran his second round heat in 9.92sec on Friday.

He said: 'I just ran the first 50 metres, then I looked around to make sure I was safe and I shut it off.' If he was shutting down from halfway, there cannot be any doubt that when he runs the full distance flat out he is capable of beating the 9.72sec he ran to take the world record from compatriot Asafa Powell in New York in May.

Flying start: the early rounds of the 100 metres thrill crowds at the Bird¿s Nest stadium on the first day of athletics

The last man to break the world record in an Olympic final was Donovan Bailey, Jamaican-born but running in the red and white of Canada.

A Jamaican has never won the Olympic title in his national colours but Bolt seems nailed on to be the first. His two main challengers are Powell, who won his second round in 10.02sec, and the American world champion Tyson Gay who was second in his second race in 10.09.

Head to head: Jamaican's Powell (right) and Bolt will likely contest final berths

'I just wanted to go through. I felt good and relaxed,' said Gay, who came into the Games without a race since the U.S. trials more than a month ago due to hamstring problems.

He was beaten by Trinidadian Richard Thompson in 9.99sec, another man who said he was not really putting much effort in.

'I was just trying to relax and have fun, not feel too much pressure,' he said. However relaxed they feel, Thompson, Gay and the rest will have to find a much higher gear to beat the Lightning Bolt to the line.

Higher gear: Gay will need to improve if is to collect the coveted gold

He may be gangling, he may rise from his blocks like it's his bed and it's Sunday, but when Bolt gets those incredible legs moving, he runs as his nickname suggests.

Never in its history has the blue riband event been more important to the Olympics.

Too often in recent memory, the ceremony of presenting the medals has been followed by them being returned after the dope test. Justin Gatlin, winner in 2004, has kept his but nobody doubts he was taking prohibited substances at that time because three years later he tested positive and was then banned for four years.

Marion Jones, winner of the 2000 women's race, has been stripped of gold and Ekaterini Thanou, who was runner-up, was banned from these Games this week because of subsequent doping misdemeanours.

Then, of course, there was the most infamous of all, the 1988 100m final, in which Ben Johnson besmirched the good name of sprinting and five more of the finalists later served bans for doping.

Great American Olympian Michael Johnson said this week: 'It has the potential to be one of the top events of the Games. I think the sport needs it, so hopefully it materialises.'

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Such is the pre-eminence of the Jamaicans and Americans - all six of them qualified for the semis - that the only European-born athlete to reach that far was Britain's Greenwich-born Tyrone Edgar, who was third in the slowest of the quarter-finals in 10.10sec.

Edgar said he was affected by a false start. 'I just told myself: "Stay focused and you can do it",' he said.

'There were four good people in my race and I knew I had to get a good start. Now I want to be in that final.'

Edgar, 26, went to America to learn his trade, teamed up with 2000 Olympics 100m champion Maurice Greene's squad in Los Angeles and has returned as the finished article.

'We don't train there for trials. We train for the Olympics,' said Edgar, a reference to his fourth place finish at the British trials and only making the individual event because Dwain Chambers was banned.

Edgar added: 'I'm finding the Games are fun. I belong there. I'm very confident that if I get a good start I will make it through to the final.'

Even if he does, saving Britain from a second Games final without representation, the spotlight will be on the lane occupied by Bolt.

Powell said he was slowed by a stomach upset and Gay is running the rust from his limbs through the rounds, but Bolt is where the money should be.

Jamaica's first Olympic 100m champion has been a long time coming but they have only a few more hours to wait.