| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | Reaction Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | Reaction Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| 7 | Xifang Lu |  CHN | 56.64 | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | Reaction Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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-Fromm |  GER | 51.68 q | |
| 5 | Norfalia Carabali |  COL | 51.96 | |
| 6 | Öznur Dursun |  TUR | 54.21 | |
| Kannan Solaimathi |  IND | DNS | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | Reaction Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | Reaction Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |  SKN | DQ | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | Reaction Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandie Richards |  JAM | 51.30 Q | |
| 2 | Olena Rurak |  UKR | 51.32 Q | |
| 3 | Daniela Georgieva |  BUL | 51.37 Q | |
| 4 | Helena Fuchsová |  CZE | 51.96 | |
| 5 | Lee Naylor |  AUS | 52.37 | |
| 6 | Vernetta Lesforis |  LCA | 56.43 | |
| 7 | Mirna El-Laz |  LBN | 59.96 | |
| Francine Landre |  FRA | DNF | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | Reaction Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fatima Yusuf |  NGR | 50.60 Q | |
| 2 | Renée 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 | |
| 8 | Bipendu Mbombo |  COD | 1:01.60 |