Heats

Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advanced to the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	3	Letitia Vriesde	Suriname	1:59.51	Q
2	1	Maria Mutola	Mozambique	1:59.96	Q
3	1	Kelly Holmes	Great Britain	2:00.08	Q
4	1	Diane Cummins	Canada	2:00.46	Q
5	1	Jolanda Čeplak	Slovenia	2:00.46	q
6	1	Hazel Clark	United States	2:00.56	q, SB
7	1	Anita Brägger	Switzerland	2:00.65	q
8	1	Tamsyn Lewis	Australia	2:00.86	q, SB
9	3	Zulia Calatayud	Cuba	2:00.96	Q
10	3	Svetlana Cherkasova	Russia	2:00.97	Q
11	3	Brigita Langerholc	Slovenia	2:01.05
12	4	Stephanie Graf	Austria	2:01.78	Q
13	4	Mayte Martínez	Spain	2:01.98	Q
14	4	Svetlana Badrankova	Kazakhstan	2:02.19	Q
15	3	Peggy Babin	France	2:02.48
16	4	Irina Mistyukevich	Russia	2:02.50
17	3	Agnes Samaria	Namibia	2:03.11
18	2	Faith Macharia	Kenya	2:03.83	Q
19	2	Ivonne Teichmann	Germany	2:04.03	Q
20	2	Luciana Mendes	Brazil	2:04.16	Q
21	4	Grace Birungi	Uganda	2:04.26
22	2	Lwiza John	Tanzania	2:04.31
23	2	Natalya Tsyganova	Russia	2:04.55
24	3	Charmaine Howell	Jamaica	2:05.06
25	2	Natalya Dukhnova	Belarus	2:05.47
26	2	Tatjana Borisova	Kyrgyzstan	2:05.63
27	4	Tina Paulino	Mozambique	2:06.36
28	2	Adama Njie	Gambia	2:07.80
29	3	Mariela Alvarez	Peru	2:09.43	PB
30	3	Janill Williams	Netherlands Antilles	2:15.04
31	1	Hind Musa	Sudan	2:27.96
	4	Tsvetelina Kirilova	Bulgaria	DQ
	4	Süreyya Ayhan	Turkey	DNS

Semifinals

Qualification: First 4 in each semifinal qualified directly (Q) for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2	Maria Mutola	Mozambique	1:59.47	Q
2	2	Letitia Vriesde	Suriname	1:59.58	Q
3	2	Mayte Martínez	Spain	2:00.07	Q
4	2	Faith Macharia	Kenya	2:00.24	Q
5	2	Zulia Calatayud	Cuba	2:01.04
6	1	Stephanie Graf	Austria	2:01.24	Q
7	1	Kelly Holmes	Great Britain	2:01.90	Q
8	2	Luciana Mendes	Brazil	2:01.94
9	1	Diane Cummins	Canada	2:02.07	Q
10	1	Ivonne Teichmann	Germany	2:02.16	Q
11	2	Anita Brägger	Switzerland	2:02.22
12	2	Svetlana Badrankova	Kazakhstan	2:02.24
13	1	Jolanda Čeplak	Slovenia	2:02.65
14	1	Svetlana Cherkasova	Russia	2:02.85
15	1	Tamsyn Lewis	Australia	2:03.16
	1	Hazel Clark	United States	DNF

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Maria Mutola	Mozambique	1:57.17
	Stephanie Graf	Austria	1:57.20	SB
	Letitia Vriesde	Suriname	1:57.35	SB
4	Faith Macharia	Kenya	1:58.98
5	Diane Cummins	Canada	1:59.49	PB
6	Kelly Holmes	Great Britain	1:59.76
7	Mayte Martínez	Spain	2:00.09
8	Ivonne Teichmann	Germany	2:04.33