| Order / Lane | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | PB | SB 1997 | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karlene Haughton |  JAM | 55.27 | 55.27 | 
| 2 | Yekaterina Bakhvalova |  RUS | 54.69 | 54.69 | 
| 3 | Susan Smith-Walsh |  IRL | 54.61 | 54.61 | 
| 4 | Tetiana Tereschuk-Antipova |  UKR | 54.41 | 54.41 | 
| 5 | Silvia Rieger |  GER | 54.27 | 55.09 | 
| 6 | Kim Batten |  USA | 52.61 | 52.97 | 
| 7 | Miriam Alonso |  ESP | 55.45 | 55.57 | 
| 8 | Debbie-Ann Parris-Thymes |  JAM | 53.97 | 55.79 | 
| Order / Lane | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | PB | SB 1997 | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ester Goossens |  NED | 54.84 | 54.84 | 
| 2 | Andrea Blackett |  BAR | 55.26 | 55.26 | 
| 3 | Nezha Bidouane |  MAR | 54.05 | 54.05 | 
| 4 | Deon Hemmings |  JAM | 52.82 | 53.18 | 
| 5 | Tonja Buford-Bailey |  USA | 52.62 | 54.25 | 
| 6 | Sally Gunnell |  GBR | 52.74 | 54.53 | 
| 7 | Gudrún Arnardóttir |  ISL | 54.81 | 55.02 | 
| 8 | Anna Chuprina-Knoroz |  RUS | 54.11 | 55.02 |