Malachowski, who had led from round one despite throwing with a fractured index finger, had to to settle for silver like at the Olympics with 69.15m while defending and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter of Estonia came third with 66.88m.

The Kenya-born Kamel outlasted world indoor champion Deresse Mekonnen of Ethiopia on the home stretch, crossing the line in 3 minutes 35.93 seconds.

'Nobody expected me to win. My father has two golds, now I want three to beat him,' said Kamel.

Mekkonen had 3:36.01 and defending champion Bernard Lagat, a Kenya-born American, came third in 3:36.20. Lagat completed his set of 1,500m medals as he won a silver in 2001.

Bolt wasted little energy as he moved within one victory of a sprint double after three Olympic golds last year in 20.08 seconds, the final set for Thursday night little more than two hours ahead of his 23rd birthday.

'My birthday is on Friday, but I did not plan a party. As far as the 200m are concerned and a new world record? I have really not done the same amount of work like I did for the 100m,' said Bolt.

Bolt won the 100m on Sunday in a stunning record of 9.58 seconds and is expected to attack his 200m mark of 19.30.

American Wallace Spearmon won the second semi-final in 20.14 seconds and compatriots Charles Clark and Shawn Crawford also made the final.

While Bolt is not expected to be beaten in the 200m, the US team hopes to turn the tide on the Jamaicans in the women's 200m.

Marsheyet Hooker led the heats with 22.51 seconds and two-time defending champion Allyson Felix also advanced with 22.88 seconds. Jamaican Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown won her heat in 23.01 seconds.

In the 400m semis, the Olympic champion Merritt clocked 44.37 seconds in his semi-finals as he advanced along with fellow-American two-time defending world champion Jeremy Wariner, who won his race in 44.69 seconds.