Olympic 800m bronze medallist Kelly Holmes will be aiming for a second medal of the Games in Saturday's 1500m final after comfortably qualifying in a season's best time of 4:05.35 seconds from today's first semi final.

The Tonbridge runner provided more powerful evidence of her return to form by moving comfortably through the field and hitting the front with 200m to go, before easing down in the home straight with qualification secure.

Fellow Briton Hayley Tullett also produced a strong performance to qualify comfortably in third place, the Welsh competitor crossing the line side by side with Holmes in 4:05.34, both behind Algeria's world number four Nouria Merah-Benida and the USA's Maria Runyan.

``This was the hardest race for me,'' said Holmes. ``I felt tired and not ready for it, but it was OK and I managed to do what I had to.

``But I have already got one little medal in my pocket and in the final I will go all out for it.''

Tullett was also delighted with her performance, after admitting to some pre-race nerves.

``I was positive beforehand, but very nervous,'' she said. ``But I was determined to get into the final, and although the pace wound up throughout the race I was always ready to cover the breaks.

``I will relax now and forget about everything, then think about the final tomorrow.''

The third Briton, Helen Pattinson, fared less well in the second semi final, fading on the final lap after leading at the bell to finish ninth in 4:09.60, which was not sufficient to take her through as one of the fastest losers.

``I have no excuses,'' she said. ``I tried to get into the right position and I felt OK until the last lap, but I knew the others were there and unfortunately my legs didn't hold out.''