Usain Bolt's excellent adventure in Beijing takes another step today when the Jamaican sprinter leads his 4x100m relay team at the Bird's Nest.

At stake is a third gold medal for Bolt, who made Olympic history by becoming the first sprinter since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win both the 100m and 200m sprints at one Games. And, even more incredibly, the first to do it while setting world records in both.

"I've written history, pretty much," Bolt said after his win in the 200.

Today, he'll get a chance to do it again.

The 4x100m finals will be held at the Bird's Nest shortly after 10 pm.

The Jamaican team, heavily favored, will pitch its speed against Trinidad and Tobago, Japan and the Netherlands, all of which qualified in the first of two heats yesterday evening, as well as Germany, Canada and China, which qualified in the second heat.

Nesta Carter of Jamaica passes the baton to Asafa Powell during the men's 4x100m relay heat of the athletics competition last night. [Agencies]

Tonight, the biggest challenge will come from Trinidad & Tobago, which also won its heat but in 38.26 sec, 0.5 sec faster than Jamaica.

Bolt sat out the preliminary heats, giving him a chance to rest, but the Jamaicans won their race easily to qualify for the finals tonight. Asafa Powell anchored the team -- he was the world record-holder before Bolt took it.

Bolt and his Jamaican teammates, including 100m sprint rival Powell are far and away the chosen pick.

Other potential challengers were the United States and the UK, neither of which made it past the two qualifying heats.

The UK was disqualified in the second heat and the US did not finish the first after dropping the baton.

If Jamaica wins, as is widely expected to, the Caribbean country will be rocking and reggae-ing again.

"It means a lot for me and my country," Bolt said. "I spoke to the prime minister on the phone and he told me everybody is in the streets."

Jamaica will also be favored in the women's 4x100 relay. They have the top three finishers in the individual 100, but now they get to add Veronica Campbell-Brown, the reigning world champion in the dash.

Historically, the United States comes into the relay events with a commanding lead over other countries. They've collected 42 of 67 gold medals - the first in 1912, the last in 2004 - in either the 4x100 or 4x400 relays. This time around, they will not be in the race.

The Soviet Union, which won its last gold in 1988, is also not in the race.

Meanwhile, all of Jamaica is following Bolt's progress.

His coach, for one, is eager to see his speedy trainee on the track after his amazing individual success.

"Everything was done, I would say, scientifically correct and he peaked at the right time and he's in great shape and I'm looking forward to him coming back in the relay and for us (Jamaica) to win that too," Mills told The Jamaica Observer.