| 1 | Deutschland | GER | 42,92 | Q | |
| (Melanie Paschke, Gaby Rockmeier, | |||||
| Birgit Rockmeier, Marion Wagner) | |||||
| 2 | Nigeria | NGR | 43,04 | Q | |
| (Chioma Ajunwa, Endurance Ojokolo, | |||||
| Mercy Nku, Mary Onyali-Omagbemi) | |||||
| 3 | Jamaika | JAM | 43,09 | Q | |
| (Astia Walker, Merlene Frazer, | |||||
| Beverly McDonald, Elva Goulbourne) | |||||
| 4 | Griechenland | GRE | 43,58 | q | |
| (Yeoryía Koklóni, Effrosíni Patsoú, | |||||
| Ólga Kaidantzí, Ekateríni Thánou) | |||||
| 5 | Sri Lanka | SRI | 43,89 | NR | |
| (Susanthika Jayasinghe, Anoma Sooriyaarachchi, | |||||
| S. Nimi De Zoya, K.V. Damayanthi Dharsha) | |||||
| 6 | Elfenbeinküste | CIV | 44,05 | ||
| (Marie Gnahoré, Makaridja Sanganoko, | |||||
| Amandine Allou Affoué, Louise Ayétotché) | |||||
| 7 | Kanada | CAN | 44,11 | ||
| (Tara Perry, Erica Witter, | |||||
| Esi Benyarku, Martha Adusei) |
| 1 | Frankreich | FRA | 42,49 | Q | |
| (Sylviane Félix, Frédérique Bangué, | |||||
| Muriel Hurtis, Odiah Sidibé) | |||||
| 2 | USA | USA | 42,64 | Q | |
| (Angela Williams, Chryste Gaines, | |||||
| Inger Miller, Torri Edwards) | |||||
| 3 | Großbritannien | GBR | 43,08 | Q | |
| (Marcia Richardson, Sarah Wilhelmy, | |||||
| Vernicha James, Abiodun Oyepitan) | |||||
| 4 | Rußland | RUS | 43,28 | q | |
| (Natalya Ignatova, Irina Khabarova, | |||||
| Marina Kislova, Larisa Kruglova) | |||||
| 5 | Belgien | BEL | 44,19 | NR | |
| (Nancy Callaerts, De Katleen Caluwé, | |||||
| Elodie Ouédraogo, Kim Gevaert) | |||||
| 6 | Usbekistan | UZB | 45,99 | ||
| (Anna Kazakova, Guzel Khubbieva, | |||||
| Lyudmila Dmitriadi, Lyubov Perepelova) |