| POS | Rank | Heat | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 3 | 470 | Ingo Schultz |  GER | 44.66 Q PB | 
| 2 | 1 | 2 | 613 | Gregory Haughton |  JAM | 44.83 Q | 
| 3 | 2 | 3 | 894 | Robert Mackowiak |  POL | 44.84 Q PB | 
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 66 | Avard Moncur |  BAH | 44.89 Q | 
| 5 | 2 | 2 | 816 | Eric Milazar |  MRI | 44.92 Q | 
| 6 | 3 | 2 | 700 | Hamdan Odha Al-Bishi |  KSA | 45.10 q | 
| 7 | 2 | 1 | 511 | Alleyne Francique |  GRN | 45.11 | 
| 8 | 3 | 3 | 13 | Malik Louahla |  ALG | 45.14 | 
| 8 | 3 | 1 | 429 | Mark Richardson |  GBR | 45.14 SB | 
| 10 | 4 | 1 | 387 | Marc Raquil |  FRA | 45.22 | 
| 11 | 4 | 2 | 1146 | Leonard Byrd |  USA | 45.39 | 
| 12 | 4 | 3 | 946 | Marcus La Grange |  RSA | 45.44 | 
| 13 | 5 | 1 | 292 | David Canal |  ESP | 45.50 | 
| 14 | 5 | 3 | 1058 | Jimisola Laursen |  SWE | 45.62 | 
| 15 | 6 | 1 | 132 | Anderson Jorge dos Santos |  BRA | 45.83 | 
| 16 | 5 | 2 | 176 | Shane Niemi |  CAN | 45.91 | 
| 17 | 6 | 2 | 947 | Hendrick Mokganyetsi |  RSA | 45.99 | 
| 18 | 7 | 1 | 902 | Piotr Rysiukiewicz |  POL | 46.12 | 
| 19 | 7 | 2 | 886 | Piotr Dlugosielski |  POL | 46.62 | 
| 20 | 6 | 3 | 1032 | Sugath Thilakaratne |  SRI | 46.69 | 
| 21 | 8 | 2 | 430 | Iwan Thomas |  GBR | 46.72 | 
| 1 | 1193 | Antonio Pettigrew |  USA | DQ | ||
| 3 | 1212 | Jerome Young |  USA | DQ | ||
| 3 | 619 | Michael McDonald |  JAM | DNF |