| POS | Rank | Heat | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS | ms* | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | United States |  USA | 37.70 Q WL | |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | Great Britain & NI |  GBR | 37.76 Q SB | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | Jamaica |  JAM | 37.95 Q SB | |
| 4 | 2 | 2 | France |  FRA | 38.03 Q SB | |
| 5 | 3 | 2 | PR of China |  CHN | 38.20 Q | |
| 6 | 3 | 1 | Japan |  JPN | 38.21 Q SB | |
| 7 | 4 | 1 | Turkey |  TUR | 38.44 q SB | |
| 8 | 4 | 2 | Canada |  CAN | 38.48 q | |
| 9 | 5 | 1 | Trinidad and Tobago |  TTO | 38.61 SB | |
| 10 | 5 | 2 | Germany |  GER | 38.66 | .652 | 
| 11 | 6 | 1 | Netherlands |  NED | 38.66 SB | .655 | 
| 12 | 7 | 1 | Australia |  AUS | 38.88 SB | |
| 13 | 6 | 2 | Cuba |  CUB | 39.01 SB | |
| 14 | 8 | 1 | Barbados |  BAR | 39.19 | |
| 2 | Bahamas |  BAH | DQ | |||
| 2 | Antigua & Barbuda |  ANT | DNS | 
ms - Milliseconds - shown when two or more competitors finish with the same time down to hundredths of a second