BEIJING — In one of the most memorable Olympic races in recent history, Jamaica's Usain Bolt set a world record in the 200 meters Wednesday and American sprinter Shawn Crawford won a strange silver medal.
Bolt blazed through the race in a time of 19.30 seconds, breaking the 12-year-old record of American Michael Johnson. Bolt, who turns 22 Thursday, had already set the world record in the 100 in these Olympics and now is a double gold medalist.
"I blew my mind and I blew the world's mind," Bolt said.
Crawford finished the race in fourth place, an eyelash off the podium. But the sprinters who finished second and third were both eventually disqualified for stepping out of their lanes, leaving Crawford with the silver medal.
Crawford, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the event, said he was also left with a "hollow feeling."
"That's just not what you dream of," Crawford said. "No one dreams of winning a medal like that."
In basketball, Kobe Bryant scored 25 points as the United States rolled into the semifinals with a 116-85 rout of Australia at Wukesong Basketball Gymnasium.
The U.S. will meet the Argentina, a two-point winner over Greece.
Bryant led five American scorers in double figures. LeBron James added 16 points, nine rebounds and four steals, and Carmelo Anthony had 15 points. Deron Williams and Chris Bosh scored 10 each.
The U.S. shot 57 percent from the field and finished with a 57-28 advantage in rebounds.
Patrick Mills paced Australia with 20 points. Glen Saville added 13, Joe Ingles 11 and Brad Newley 10.
A 14-0 run to start the second half blew the game open, pushing a 55-43 lead to 69-43.
In other events Wednesday:
_The U.S. baseball team used six pitchers to defeat Japan 4-2 in 11 innings, closing out preliminary play in the 2008 Olympic Games tournament. Jeff Stevens picked up the win after pitching the 12th and 13th innings
_All three members of the U.S. team for BMX cycling have advanced to the semifinal round, which will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday at the BMX Venue.
_ American Sheena Tosta captured the silver medal in the women's 400m hurdles, run. Her time of 53.70 was 1.06 behind Jamaica's Melaine Walker, who won in a world-record time of 52.64 seconds.
_Jun Gao of Gaithersburg, Md., advanced to the fourth round Wednesday by defeating Sayaka Hirano of Japan 4-1 in women's singles table tennis.
_Rami Zur of Costa Mesa, Calif., placed seventh in his semifinal and was eliminated from the men's single kayak (K-1) 1000-meter event. Zur remains alive in the K-1 500-meter, which will run semifinals Thursday afternoon.