| POS | Rank | Heat | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS | WIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Nikolay Antonov |
BUL |
20.28 Q | +0.9 |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | Leroy Burrell |
USA |
20.38 Q | +0.9 |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | Joseph Gikonyo |
KEN |
20.43 Q | +0.9 |
| 4 | 1 | 7 | Emmanuel Tuffour |
GHA |
20.50 Q | +0.1 |
| 5 | 1 | 3 | Robson da Silva |
BRA |
20.51 Q | +0.3 |
| 6 | 1 | 2 | Michael Johnson |
USA |
20.52 Q | +1.2 |
| 7 | 2 | 3 | Michael Rosswess |
GBR |
20.58 Q | +0.3 |
| 8 | 2 | 7 | John Regis |
GBR |
20.62 Q | +0.1 |
| 9 | 1 | 5 | Olapade Adeniken |
NGR |
20.63 Q | +0.1 |
| 10 | 3 | 7 | Aleksandr SOKOLOV |
URS |
20.67 Q | +0.1 |
| 11 | 1 | 8 | Floyd Heard |
USA |
20.67 Q | -0.4 |
| 12 | 3 | 3 | Daniel Effiong |
NGR |
20.68 Q | +0.3 |
| 13 | 1 | 1 | Frank Fredericks |
NAM |
20.70 Q | -1.3 |
| 14 | 4 | 3 | Kennedy Ondiek |
KEN |
20.73 q | +0.3 |
| 15 | 1 | 6 | Jean-Charles Trouabal |
FRA |
20.75 Q | -0.3 |
| 16 | 2 | 5 | Hermann Lomba |
FRA |
20.78 Q | +0.1 |
| 17 | 5 | 3 | Dmitriy Bartenyev |
URS |
20.78 q | +0.3 |
| 18 | 2 | 2 | Yoshiyuki Okuyama |
JPN |
20.80 Q | +1.2 |
| 19 | 2 | 6 | Atlee Mahorn |
CAN |
20.83 Q | -0.3 |
| 20 | 4 | 7 | Thomas Renner |
AUT |
20.85 q | +0.1 |
| 21 | 2 | 1 | Innocent Asonze |
NGR |
20.88 Q | -1.3 |
| 22 | 3 | 2 | Stefano Tilli |
ITA |
20.89 Q | +1.2 |
| 23 | 2 | 8 | Bruno Marie-Rose |
FRA |
20.90 Q | -0.4 |
| 24 | 3 | 6 | Dean Capobianco |
AUS |
20.93 Q | -0.3 |
| 25 | 4 | 6 | Daniel Cojocaru |
ROU |
20.94 q | -0.3 |
| 26 | 4 | 4 | Cyprian Enweani |
CAN |
20.95 q | +0.9 |
| 27 | 5 | 4 | Pascal Thurnherr |
SUI |
20.97 q | +0.9 |
| 28 | 4 | 2 | Enrique Talavera |
ESP |
20.98 q | +1.2 |
| 29 | 3 | 1 | Jaroslaw Kaniecki |
POL |
21.00 Q | -1.3 |
| 30 | 3 | 8 | Felix Stevens |
CUB |
21.06 Q | -0.4 |
| 31 | 3 | 8 | Cameron Taylor |
NZL |
21.06 q | -0.4 |
| 32 | 4 | 1 | Anninos Marcoullides |
CYP |
21.07 | -1.3 |
| 33 | 5 | 8 | Miguel Ángel Gómez |
ESP |
21.08 | -0.4 |
| 34 | 5 | 6 | Boevi Menelik Lawson |
TOG |
21.09 | -0.3 |
| 35 | 5 | 2 | Peter Ogilvie |
CAN |
21.09 | +1.2 |
| 36 | 6 | 6 | Sandro Floris |
ITA |
21.10 | -0.3 |
| 37 | 3 | 5 | Linford Christie |
GBR |
21.19 Q | +0.1 |
| 38 | 4 | 5 | Khalid Juma |
BRN |
21.31 | +0.1 |
| 39 | 6 | 8 | Neville Hodge |
ISV |
21.36 | -0.4 |
| 40 | 5 | 5 | Joseph Styles |
BAH |
21.43 | +0.1 |
| 41 | 6 | 3 | Edmund Estaphane |
LCA |
21.48 | +0.3 |
| 42 | 5 | 1 | Attila Kovács |
HUN |
21.55 | -1.3 |
| 43 | 7 | 3 | Eric Haynes |
SKN |
21.58 | +0.3 |
| 44 | 6 | 5 | Joseph Dias |
SEN |
21.60 | +0.1 |
| 45 | 6 | 4 | Dudley Den Dulk |
AHO |
21.65 | +0.9 |
| 46 | 5 | 7 | Botlhoko Shebe |
LES |
21.84 | +0.1 |
| 47 | 7 | 6 | Ousmane Diarra |
MLI |
21.85 | -0.3 |
| 48 | 6 | 2 | Trevor Davis |
AIA |
21.87 | +1.2 |
| 49 | 8 | 6 | Jerome Jeremiah |
VAN |
21.91 | -0.3 |
| 50 | 7 | 4 | Rodney Cox |
TKS |
21.91 | +0.9 |
| 51 | 7 | 8 | Eswort Coombs |
VIN |
22.29 | -0.4 |
| 52 | 6 | 1 | Christian Mandengue |
CMR |
22.31 | -1.3 |
| 53 | 8 | 3 | Fortune Ogouchi |
BEN |
22.36 | +0.3 |
| 54 | 7 | 5 | Mark Sherwin |
COK |
22.68 | +0.1 |
| 55 | 7 | 1 | Ahmed Shageef |
MDV |
22.80 | -1.3 |
| 56 | 8 | 8 | Manuel Alves Fonseca |
STP |
23.44 | -0.4 |
| 7 | Troy Douglas |
BER |
DQ | +0.1 | ||
| 5 | Golam Ambia |
BAN |
DQ | +0.1 | ||
| 7 | Franck Zio |
BUR |
DNS | +0.1 | ||
| 4 | Karim Abdul |
AFG |
DNS | +0.9 | ||
| 2 | Mohamed Abderrehin |
LBA |
DNS | +1.2 |