Athens - Three days after ending years of futility by capturing the 800-meter Olympic medal, Kelly Holmes of Britain kept alive her hopes of a rare double when she cruised into the final of the 1 500.
Hasna Benhassi of Morocco, the 800 silver medallist, also advanced.
Holmes finished second in her heat in a leisurely 4 minutes, 4.77 seconds - 0.11 seconds behind Natalya Yevdokimova of Russia.
World leader Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey qualified with the 11th fastest time.
Holmes, a bronze medallist at the 2000 Sydney Games and fourth at Atlanta in 1996, won her first major title in the 800 on Monday, after a series of near-misses.
She finished second in the 800 at the 2003 world championship, and third in that event and second in the 1 500 at the 1995 worlds.
"I've already got more than I expected so I am trying to keep myself down on a level and refocus for this event and it's hard to keep that motivation going," Holmes said.
"I don't know what to expect any more. I'm just running each race and I'll take what comes."
One day after qualifying for the final in the long jump, Marion Jones ran the second leg of the United States 4x100 relay team that stormed into the final.
Jones' participation had been a subject of speculation because she is being investigated by the US Anti-Doping Agency.
However, she has not been charged with any doping offence and qualified Wednesday for the long jump finals.
Should Jones be found guilty of doping, the United States could lose any medal it wins in the relay.
However, Jones has vehemently denied ever taking banned performance-enhancing substances.
The semi-finals of the 110-metre hurdles saw Ladji Doucoure of France lead the field in 13.06 seconds, a national record and the second fastest time in the world this year.
