India's javelin hero Neeraj Chopra underlined his claim as the favourite with a single throw on Tuesday, launching his Olympic title defence with 89.34 metres in qualification.
He delivered India's first athletics gold three years ago and looked ready to bring home more hardware with the farthest throw of the day and his best of the season.
"It was a good throw. Maybe the biggest ever in qualifying for me. All the throwers look in good shape," he said.
"I know I have not reached my peak. I am not yet as good as I would like to be technically or in distance, so I want to improve and throw further. And I want to set an example for other Indian athletes so that we can compete here with the best."
Grenadian Anderson Peters was second in their Group B with 88.63 on one attempt and hopes to dismantle Chopra to add Olympic gold to his 2022 and 2019 world championship titles.
Pakistan's world silver medallist Arshad Nadeem (86.59) was also among the 12 best performers to move on to Thursday's medal round.
German Julian Weber endured fourth-place heartbreak in Tokyo and again at the two most recent worlds but was ready to fight again for the podium as he reached 87.76 on his lone attempt to finish at the top of Group A.
"It would mean everything to me (to win a medal). It's my biggest dream," he told reporters. "I will go all in on Thursday and hopefully I get one."
Kenyan Julius Yeo, the silver medallist in 2016, stepped awkwardly on his approach and crashed to the ground as he hurled the javelin 85.97 to reach the final on his last attempt.
Czech Jakub Vadlejch, silver medallist in Tokyo, also moved on with 85.63.
