| 1 | Sonia O'Sullivan | IRL | 4:05,81 | Q | |
| 2 | Yi Lu | CHN | 4:05,97 | Q | |
| 3 | Theresia Kiesl | AUT | 4:06,89 | Q | NR |
| 4 | Maite Zúñiga | ESP | 4:07,46 | Q | |
| 5 | Anna Brzezinska | POL | 4:08,33 | q | |
| 6 | Bettina Andersen | DEN | 4:09,75 | ||
| 7 | Blandine Bitzner-Ducret | FRA | 4:10,70 | ||
| 8 | Alisa Harvey-Hill | USA | 4:11,29 | ||
| 9 | Sonia McGeorge | GBR | 4:12,93 | ||
| 10 | Sarah Howell | CAN | 4:13,40 | ||
| 11 | Ravilya Agletdinova-Kotovich | BLR | 4:17,43 | ||
| 12 | Laurence Niyonsaba | RWA | 4:25,70 | ||
| 13 | Kumari Pandey Raj | NEP | 4:49,22 | ||
| Lyubov Kremlyova | RUS | DNS |
| 1 | Hassiba Boulmerka | ALG | 4:13,13 | Q |
| 2 | Wei Yan | CHN | 4:13,87 | Q |
| 3 | Oksana Mernikova | BLR | 4:13,93 | Q |
| 4 | Angela Chalmers | CAN | 4:13,94 | Q |
| 5 | Elena Fidatov | ROM | 4:14,34 | |
| 6 | Malgorzata Rydz | POL | 4:14,75 | |
| 7 | Gwen Griffiths | RSA | 4:14,81 | |
| 8 | Annette Peters | USA | 4:15,15 | |
| 9 | Harumi Hiroyama | JPN | 4:19,67 | |
| 10 | Vera Chuvashova | RUS | 4:21,33 | |
| 11 | Lyudmila Derevyankina | KGZ | 4:28,39 | |
| Karolina Tanona | FIJ | DNS | ||
| Alia Al Matari | JOR | DNS |
| 1 | Dong Liu | CHN | 4:04,36 | Q |
| 2 | Lyudmila Rogachova | RUS | 4:07,52 | Q |
| 3 | Fabia Trabaldo | ITA | 4:07,95 | Q |
| 4 | Carla Sacramento | POR | 4:08,32 | Q |
| 5 | Violeta Beclea-Szekely | ROM | 4:08,82 | q |
| 6 | Leah Pells | CAN | 4:08,97 | q |
| 7 | Sandra Gasser | SUI | 4:11,75 | |
| 8 | Andrea Sollarova | SVK | 4:14,47 | |
| 9 | Soraya Telles | BRA | 4:18,67 | |
| 10 | Gina Procaccio | USA | 4:29,17 | |
| 11 | Shirley Cespedes | CRC | 4:42,15 | |
| 12 | Martha Portobanco | NCA | 4:56,22 | |
| Simone Weidner | GER | DNF |