| Final 20:05 | time | L | | 1. Cathy Freeman | AUS | 49.77s | 1 | | 2. Sandie Richards | JAM | 49.79s | 5 | | 3. Jearl Miles-Clark | USA | 49.90s | 4 | | 4. Grit Breuer | GER | 50.06s | 6 | | 5. Falilat Ogunkoya | NGR | 50.27s | 3 | | 6. Helena Dziurova-Fuchsova | CZE | 50.66s | 8 | | 7. Pauline Davis-Thompson | BAH | 50.68s | 7 | | 8. Tatyana Alekseyeva | RUS | 51.37s | 2 |
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| Heat 1 19.20h | time | L | | 1. Jearl Miles-Clark | USA | 50.05s | 4 | | 2. Falilat Ogunkoya | NGR | 50.06s | 5 | | 3. Cathy Freeman | AUS | 50.11s | 3 | | 4. Pauline Davis-Thompson | BAH | 50.77s | 6 | | 5. Lorraine Graham | JAM | 50.90s | 2 | | 6. Olga Kotlyarova | RUS | 51.03s | 1 | | 7. Anja Rucker | GER | 51.94s | 8 | | -. Donna Fraser | GBR | DNS | 7 |
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| Heat 2 19.30h | time | L | | 1. Sandie Richards | JAM | 50.21s | 5 | | 2. Grit Breuer | GER | 50.33s | 4 | | 3. Helena Dziurova-Fuchsova | CZE | 50.69s | 3 | | 4. Tatyana Alekseyeva | RUS | 50.98s | 6 | | 5. Maicel Malone-Wallace | USA | 51.40s | 7 | | 6. Allison Curbishley | GBR | 51.42s | 8 | | 7. Olabisi Afolabi | NGR | 51.44s | 1 | | 8. Kim Graham | USA | 51.54s | 2 |
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| Heat 1 | time | L | | 1. Sandie Richards | JAM | 50.08s | 5 | | 2. Helena Dziurova-Fuchsova | CZE | 50.36s | 4 | | 3. Pauline Davis-Thompson | BAH | 50.53s | 7 | | 4. Olga Kotlyarova | RUS | 50.63s | 6 | | 5. Maicel Malone-Wallace | USA | 50.77s | 3 | | 6. Allison Curbishley | GBR | 50.78s | 8 | | 7. Anja Rucker | GER | 51.36s | 2 | | -. Adri De Jongh | RSA | DNF | 1 |
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| Heat 2 | time | L | | 1. Falilat Ogunkoya | NGR | 50.39s | 6 | | 2. Grit Breuer | GER | 50.65s | 5 | | 3. Tatyana Alekseyeva | RUS | 50.90s | 4 | | 4. Kim Graham | USA | 51.72s | 3 | | 5. Ladonna Antoine | CAN | 52.37s | 1 | | 6. Nadezda Kostovalova | CZE | 52.61s | 8 | | 7. Damayanthi Darsha-Kobalavithanage | SRI | 53.49s | 2 | | 8. Tonique Williams | BAH | 54.23s | 7 |
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| Heat 3 | time | L | | 1. Jearl Miles-Clark | USA | 50.66s | 5 | | 2. Cathy Freeman | AUS | 50.75s | 4 | | 3. Lorraine Graham | JAM | 51.03s | 6 | | 4. Olabisi Afolabi | NGR | 51.07s | 1 | | 5. Donna Fraser | GBR | 51.11s | 3 | | 6. Norfalia Carabali | COL | 51.42s | 2 | | 7. Tatyana Chebykina | RUS | 51.57s | 8 | | 8. Patrizia Spuri | ITA | 52.15s | 7 |
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| Heat 1 | time | L | | 1. Helena Dziurova-Fuchsova | CZE | 51.05s | 6 | | 2. Tatyana Alekseyeva | RUS | 51.61s | 5 | | 3. Damayanthi Darsha-Kobalavithanage | SRI | 51.99s | 8 | | 4. Olabisi Afolabi | NGR | 52.13s | 2 | | 5. Tonique Williams | BAH | 52.30s | 7 | | 6. Ladonna Antoine | CAN | 52.44s | 4 | | 7. Maria Magnolia Figueiredo | BRA | 53.95s | 1 | | 8. Charmaine Smit | NAM | 55.67s | 3 |
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| Heat 2 | time | L | | 1. Sandie Richards | JAM | 51.57s | 7 | | 2. Jearl Miles-Clark | USA | 51.77s | 5 | | 3. Allison Curbishley | GBR | 51.97 | 3 | | 4. Norfalia Carabali | COL | 52.18s | 2 | | 5. Hana Benesova | CZE | 52.74s | 8 | | 6. Mayra Gonzalez | MEX | 53.63s | 1 | | 7. Nadjina Kaltouma | CHA | 54.49s | 6 | | 8. Cathalina Staye | STV | 55.54s | 4 |
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| Heat 3 | time | L | | 1. Kim Graham | USA | 51.92s | 2 | | 2. Donna Fraser | GBR | 52.21s | 6 | | 3. Patrizia Spuri | ITA | 52.54s | 8 | | 4. Tatyana Chebykina | RUS | 52.57s | 7 | | 5. Inez Turner | JAM | 53.34ss | 4 | | 6. Christina Panagou | GRE | 54.23s | 5 | | 7. Grace Dinkins | LBR | 55.19s | 3 | | -. Charity Opara | NGR | DNS | 1 |
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| Heat 4 | time | L | | 1. Grit Breuer | GER | 51.43s | 2 | | 2. Olga Kotlyarova | RUS | 51.55s | 1 | | 3. Falilat Ogunkoya | NGR | 51.77s | 4 | | 4. Nadezda Kostovalova | CZE | 52.15s | 5 | | 5. Adri De Jongh | RSA | 52.47s | 3 | | 6. Zoila Stewart | CRC | 54.03s | 8 | | 7. Dijana Kojic | BSH | 55.06s | 7 | | 8. Olga Conte | ARG | 55.82s | 6 |
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| Heat 5 | time | L | | 1. Lorraine Graham | JAM | 51.45s | 2 | | 2. Cathy Freeman | AUS | 51.53s | 3 | | 3. Maicel Malone-Wallace | USA | 51.57s | 4 | | 4. Pauline Davis-Thompson | BAH | 51.61s | 1 | | 5. Anja Rucker | GER | 51.84s | 5 | | 6. Marina Filipovic | YUG | 53.16s | 6 | | 7. Svetlana Bodritskaya | KZK | 53.28s | 7 |
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