El Gerrouj cruises to 1500m semi

Hicham El Gerrouj is a strong favourite for gold

Hicham El Gerrouj, the overwhelming favourite for the 1500m title, cruised into the semi-final by comfortably winning the first heat.

"The time doesn't matter. The most important thing was to qualify," he said. "It was very cold. I hope it'll be sunny for the final. If it is, I should have a great race and it should be a great time."

"My left thigh was a little bit sore but it's nothing," he said after the race. "I'm confident."

El Gerrouj's winning time was 3:38.57 and he was joined in the next round by Britain's John Mayock who finished fourth in the heat in which the first six qualified by right.

Mayock finished fourth in his heat

"There is a good mood in the team. It is not just Denise Lewis' gold last night - Steve Backley kicked it off with his silver in the javelin," said Mayock after the race.

"We all watched Steve and we know he was disappointed to get silver in the javelin, but it is a fantastic achievement in his third Olympics and it was great for Denise to get gold.

"The atmosphere in the whole team is good. It is much better than Atlanta. All the sports are mixing together and the training camp we had on the Gold Coast really helped."

Disappointment for Whiteman

But one of Britain's other hopes Anthony Whiteman, who has been battling with injury prior to the Games, dropped out of the second heat after he was knocked off the track when well placed with 200m to go.

The British team appealed but as Whiteman failed to finish it was unlikely to succeed.

The heat was won by France's Medhi Baala in 3:40.36 followed by Bernard Lagat of Kenya.

Britain's third contender, Andy Graffin, went through as the sixth of six fastest losers after finishing 11th in the third heat which was won by Noah Ngenyi of Kenya in a time of 3:38.03.

Reigning champion Nourredine Morceli, now perhaps past his peak, finished second to take his place in the next round.