Olympics athletics: Kirani James into 400m final but Pistorius out

World champion Kirani James of Grenada eased into the 400m final after winning his semi-final.

James finished in 44.59 seconds ahead of Chris Brown of the Bahamas with Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius down in eighth.

The fastest qualifier for Monday's final was Lalonde Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago in 44.58.

The British trio of Martyn Rooney, Nigel Levine and Conrad Williams failed to advance.

Rooney finished fifth in his semi-final in 45.31 seconds with Levine sixth behind James (45.64) and Williams last in the opening semi-final (45.53).

Paralympics champion Pistorius had created history by becoming the first double amputee to run in the Games.

But the South African, who was born without shin bones and races wearing carbon fibre blades, struggled from the start and finished in 46.54 seconds, way down on the 45.44 season's best he posted in the first round.

Immediately after finishing, James embraced Pistorius and swapped his race name label with him.