| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | Reaction Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jearl Miles Clark |  USA | 50.05 Q | |
| 2 | Falilat Ogunkoya |  NGR | 50.06 Q | |
| 3 | Cathy Freeman |  AUS | 50.11 Q | |
| 4 | Pauline Davis-Thompson |  BAH | 50.77 Q | |
| 5 | Lorraine Fenton |  JAM | 50.90 | |
| 6 | Olga Kotlyarova |  RUS | 51.03 | |
| 7 | Anja Rücker |  GER | 51.94 | |
| Donna Fraser |  GBR | DNS | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | Reaction Time | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandie Richards |  JAM | 50.21 Q | |
| 2 | Grit Breuer |  GER | 50.33 Q SB | |
| 3 | Helena Fuchsová |  CZE | 50.69 Q | |
| 4 | Tatyana Alekseyeva |  RUS | 50.98 Q | |
| 5 | Maicel Malone-Wallace |  USA | 51.40 | |
| 6 | Allison Curbishley |  GBR | 51.42 | |
| 7 | Olabisi Afolabi |  NGR | 51.44 | |
| 8 | Kim Graham |  USA | 51.54 |