| 1 | Cathy Freeman | AUS | 51,29 | Q |
| 2 | Melanie Neef | GBR | 51,39 | Q |
| 3 | Tatyana Chebykina | RUS | 51,58 | Q |
| 4 | Linda Kisabaka | GER | 51,96 | |
| 5 | Idalmis Bonne | CUB | 52,10 | |
| 6 | Zoila Stewart | CRC | 53,48 | |
| 7 | Pei-Chin Hsu | TPE | 54,93 |
| 1 | Maicel Malone-Wallace | USA | 51,22 | Q | |
| 2 | Julia Duporty | CUB | 51,55 | Q | |
| 3 | Olga V. Nazarova | RUS | 51,55 | Q | |
| 4 | Olabisi Afolabi | NGR | 51,79 | ||
| 5 | Grace Birungi | UGA | 53,92 | ||
| 6 | Ngozi Mwanamwambwa | ZAM | 53,92 | NR | |
| 7 | Xifang Lu | CHN | 56,64 |
| 1 | Marie-José Pérec | FRA | 51,24 | Q |
| 2 | Yuliya Sotnikova | RUS | 51,39 | Q |
| 3 | Hengyun Zhang | CHN | 51,51 | Q |
| 4 | Uta Rohländer | GER | 51,68 | q |
| 5 | Norfalia Carabalí | COL | 51,96 | |
| 6 | Öznur Dursun | TUR | 54,21 | |
| Kannan Solaimathi | IND | DNS |
| 1 | Sandra Myers | ESP | 51,18 | Q |
| 2 | Pauline Davis-Thompson | BAH | 51,21 | Q |
| 3 | Kim Graham | USA | 51,39 | Q |
| 4 | Jing Li | CHN | 51,50 | q |
| 5 | Sandra Kuschmann | GER | 51,99 | |
| 6 | Olga Moroz | UKR | 52,31 | |
| 7 | Sharron Celecia | GIB | 1:01,03 | |
| Kate Clarke | LBR | DNS |
| 1 | Falilat Ogunkoya | NGR | 50,72 | Q |
| 2 | Jearl Miles-Clark | USA | 50,94 | Q |
| 3 | Claudine Williams | JAM | 51,32 | Q |
| 4 | Nancy Mcleon | CUB | 51,39 | q |
| 5 | Evelyne Élien | FRA | 53,34 | |
| 6 | Mercy Addy | GHA | 54,29 | |
| Bernice Morton | STK | DQ |
| 1 | Sandie Richards | JAM | 51,30 | Q |
| 2 | Yelena Rurak | UKR | 51,32 | Q |
| 3 | Daniela Spasova-Georgieva | BUL | 51,37 | Q |
| 4 | Helena Dziurova-Fuchsová | CZE | 51,96 | |
| 5 | Lee Naylor | AUS | 52,37 | |
| 6 | Vernetta Lesforis | STL | 56,43 | |
| 7 | Mirna El-Laz | LIB | 59,96 | |
| Francine Landre | FRA | DNF |
| 1 | Fatima Yusuf | NGR | 50,60 | Q | |
| 2 | Renee Poetschka | AUS | 51,26 | Q | |
| 3 | Ximena Restrepo | COL | 51,57 | Q | |
| 4 | Ludmila Formanová | CZE | 52,05 | ||
| 5 | Merlene Frazer | JAM | 52,24 | ||
| 6 | Dora Kyriakou | CYP | 52,81 | ||
| 7 | Mary-Estelle Kapalu | VAN | 53,92 | NR | |
| 8 | Bipendu Mbombo | COD | 1:01,60 |
| 1 | Cathy Freeman | AUS | 50,49 | Q |
| 2 | Fatima Yusuf | NGR | 50,56 | Q |
| 3 | Sandie Richards | JAM | 50,64 | q |
| 4 | Melanie Neef | GBR | 51,18 | |
| 5 | Yuliya Sotnikova | RUS | 51,41 | |
| 6 | Kim Graham | USA | 51,77 | |
| 7 | Ximena Restrepo | COL | 51,82 | |
| 8 | Jing Li | CHN | 53,46 |
| 1 | Pauline Davis-Thompson | BAH | 50,43 | Q |
| 2 | Maicel Malone-Wallace | USA | 50,77 | Q |
| 3 | Renee Poetschka | AUS | 51,00 | |
| 4 | Sandra Myers | ESP | 51,03 | |
| 5 | Nancy Mcleon | CUB | 51,46 | |
| 6 | Daniela Spasova-Georgieva | BUL | 51,65 | |
| 7 | Tatyana Chebykina | RUS | 51,67 | |
| 8 | Claudine Williams | JAM | 52,99 |
| 1 | Jearl Miles-Clark | USA | 50,39 | Q |
| 2 | Marie-José Pérec | FRA | 50,42 | Q |
| 3 | Falilat Ogunkoya | NGR | 50,85 | q |
| 4 | Olga V. Nazarova | RUS | 51,83 | |
| 5 | Julia Duporty | CUB | 51,85 | |
| 6 | Uta Rohländer | GER | 51,99 | |
| 7 | Yelena Rurak | UKR | 52,01 | |
| 8 | Hengyun Zhang | CHN | 52,59 |