| POS | Rank | Heat | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS | ms* | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Jamaica |  JAM | 37.82 Q SB | ||
| 2 | 1 | 2 | PR of China |  CHN | 37.92 Q SB | .916 | |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | Canada |  CAN | 37.92 Q SB | .918 | |
| 4 | 3 | 2 | Italy |  ITA | 37.95 Q NR | ||
| 5 | 4 | 2 | Germany |  GER | 38.06 q SB | ||
| 6 | 5 | 2 | Ghana |  GHA | 38.08 q NR | ||
| 7 | 6 | 2 | United States |  USA | 38.10 SB | ||
| 8 | 2 | 1 | Japan |  JPN | 38.16 Q SB | .152 | |
| 9 | 7 | 2 | Denmark |  DEN | 38.16 NR | .158 | |
| 10 | 3 | 1 | France |  FRA | 38.18 SB | ||
| 11 | 4 | 1 | Brazil |  BRA | 38.34 SB | ||
| 12 | 5 | 1 | Trinidad and Tobago |  TTO | 38.63 SB | ||
| 1 | Great Britain & NI |  GBR | DQ | ||||
| 2 | Turkey |  TUR | DQ | ||||
| 1 | Netherlands |  NED | DNF | ||||
| 1 | South Africa |  RSA | DNF | 
ms - Milliseconds - shown when two or more competitors finish with the same time down to hundredths of a second