Japanese sprint king Koji Ito bolted into the semifinals of the men's 100 meters on Friday as he crossed the finish line third in his second-round heat on the first day of the Sydney Olympic athletics competition.
The 1998 Bangkok Asian Games champion clocked a season's best 10.25 seconds to finish behind Britain's Dwain Chambers and Jon Drummond of the United States watched by a near-capacity crowd at Olympic Stadium.
Ito, who set a Japanese record of 10.00 in Bangkok, exploded out of the blocks and led the field through the first 60 meters, before medal contenders Chambers and Drummond inched ahead at the tape.
"I knew I had the lead until late, but I've got to be happy with third. If I had a few more races under my belt I could have gone a bit quicker," said Ito, who struggled to get in shape for the Olympics after an early-season thigh injury.