ATHENS, Greece - Shawn Crawford made a fashion statement — or perhaps he was just staying cool — as he sped to victory in 10.02 seconds in Saturday’s first round of the 100 meters.

Crawford, wearing sunglasses and turning his white baseball cap backward, led three Americans into the second round of the 100, including Justin Gatlin, who won his heat in 10.07, and defending gold medalist Maurice Greene.

“Just a little sun visor on the back of my neck so my engine won’t overheat,” Crawford said. “It’s like a supercharger with an inner cooler to keep me running cool. I want to look cool when I’m out there on the track.”

Gatlin, Crawford’s training partner, took credit for the look.

“I dared him to do it,” he said.

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Greene, trying to become the first man with back-to-back Olympic 100 titles since Carl Lewis in the 1980s, strolled to victory in his heat in 10.18.

“I never really turned it on, so I can’t say I really shut it down,” Greene said. “I’m conserving my energy until later.”

Also advancing were medal contenders Asafa Powell of Jamaica (10.06), Francis Obikwelu of Portugal (10.09) and world champion Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis. Joining them in the second round was Namibia’s Frank Fredericks, the silver medalist at the 1992 and 1996 games.

Crawford, who once ran a race wearing a “Phantom of the Opera” mask, said Saturday’s run was not too tough. His time was the fastest of the first round.

“That was the easiest 10.02 I ever ran in my life,” Crawford said. “I didn’t know I was running that fast. I thought I was just chilling.”

Thirteen days after undergoing knee surgery, world champion Jana Pittman made a remarkable comeback Saturday morning by winning her preliminary heat of the women’s 400-meter hurdles.

The Australian, who tore cartilage in her right knee while warming up for a race and quickly had arthroscopic surgery in hopes of running in Athens, won her heat in 54.83 seconds. The best time of the first round was 53.57 by Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia.

“I was really nervous. I did not know if my knee was going to hold up,” Pittman said. “I thought I loved this sport, but you don’t know how much you love something until you have it taken away.”

Also advancing to Sunday’s semifinals were all three Americans — Sheena Johnson, Lashinda Demus and Brenda Taylor. They placed second in their heats, automatically qualifying for the next round.

In the women’s 400, gold-medal favorite Ana Guevara of Mexico slowed so much in the final meters that she had to speed back up momentarily when she saw competitors catching up. She won her first-round heat in 50.93.

Guevara, the reigning world champion, was joined in the semifinals by Americans Monique Hennagan, DeeDee Trotter and Sanya Richards. The time of 50.11 by Richards was the fastest of the qualifying round.

Kenenisa Bekele used a breathtaking final 400 meters late Friday night to claim the Olympic 10,000-meter throne previously occupied by his Ethiopian countryman, Haile Gebrselassie.

The soft-spoken 22-year-old champion is not finished in Athens. He will be the favorite again in the 5,000 meters, attempting to become the fifth man — and first in 24 years — to achieve the Olympic distance-running double.

“Yes, I think so,” Bekele said with a smile when asked if he had anything left for his second race.

Gebrselassie, who sought his third consecutive Olympic title in the event, finished in a painful fifth place, nearly dropping out because of an Achilles tendon injury. He had said it would be his final race on the track; the 31-year-old will now turn his attention to the marathon.

He left the 10,000 in good hands. With a jaw-dropping 53.02-second final lap, Bekele won in 27 minutes, 5.10 seconds, breaking Gebreselassie’s Olympic record by more than two seconds.

Sileshi Sihine gave Ethiopia a 1-2 finish, earning the silver medal in 27:09.39. Zersenay Tadesse of Eritrea took the bronze at 27:22.57.