Heats

Qualification: First 3 of each heat (Q) and the next 9 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4	Hazel-Ann Regis	Grenada	51.47	Q, SB
2	4	Novlene Williams	Jamaica	51.51	Q
3	2	Christine Amertil	Bahamas	51.85	Q
4	3	Christine Ohuruogu	England	51.97	Q
5	2	Shericka Williams	Jamaica	52.18	Q
6	3	Joy Eze	Nigeria	52.44	Q
7	1	Tonique Williams	Bahamas	52.58	Q
8	1	Christiana Ekpukhon	Nigeria	52.67	Q
9	1	Jane Arnott	New Zealand	52.82	Q
10	3	Amantle Montsho	Botswana	52.83	Q
11	2	Rosemary Hayward	Australia	52.90	Q
12	3	Kineke Alexander	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	52.95	q
13	4	Kimberly Wall	England	53.05	Q
14	4	Manjit Kaur	India	53.06	q
15	3	Ronetta Smith	Jamaica	53.07	q
16	1	Jaimee Hoebergen	Australia	53.12	q
17	5	Estie Wittstock	South Africa	53.13	Q
18	5	Tamsyn Lewis	Australia	53.21	Q
19	2	Adri Schoeman	South Africa	53.24	q
20	2	Catherine Murphy	Wales	53.67	q
21	5	Aliann Pompey	Guyana	53.76	Q
22	1	Nickeisha Charles	Trinidad and Tobago	55.57	q
23	5	Bushra Parveen	Pakistan	56.03	q, PB
24	4	Florence Wasike	Kenya	56.55	q
25	3	Toea Wisil	Papua New Guinea	56.72	PB
26	3	Rachel Nachula	Zambia	57.18
27	4	Sarah Bona	Sierra Leone	57.25
28	5	Muriel Noah Ahanda	Cameroon	57.76
29	2	Betty Barua	Papua New Guinea	57.85	PB
30	2	Sarah Turay	Sierra Leone	58.07
31	1	Cecelia Kumalalamene	Papua New Guinea	58.59	PB
32	1	Temalangeni Dlamini	Swaziland	58.97
	5	Donna Fraser	England	DNS

Semifinals

Qualification: First 2 of each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	3	Christine Ohuruogu	England	50.87	Q
2	3	Tonique Williams	Bahamas	50.97	Q
3	1	Novlene Williams	Jamaica	51.03	Q, SB
4	2	Christine Amertil	Bahamas	51.36	Q
5	2	Shericka Williams	Jamaica	51.65	Q, SB
6	1	Hazel-Ann Regis	Grenada	51.75	Q
7	2	Manjit Kaur	India	52.31	q
8	1	Rosemary Hayward	Australia	52.47	q, SB
9	2	Estie Wittstock	South Africa	52.49
10	2	Joy Eze	Nigeria	52.51
11	1	Jane Arnott	New Zealand	52.53
12	3	Christiana Ekpukhon	Nigeria	52.67
13	3	Tamsyn Lewis	Australia	52.88
14	3	Adri Schoeman	South Africa	53.03
15	1	Amantle Montsho	Botswana	53.07
16	1	Ronetta Smith	Jamaica	53.11
17	2	Kineke Alexander	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	53.19
18	2	Jaimee Hoebergen	Australia	53.26
19	1	Kimberly Wall	England	53.75
20	3	Catherine Murphy	Wales	55.35
21	3	Nickeisha Charles	Trinidad and Tobago	55.47
22	2	Bushra Parveen	Pakistan	56.75
	3	Aliann Pompey	Guyana	DNF
	1	Florence Wasike	Kenya	DQ

Final

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	5	Christine Ohuruogu	England	50.28	PB
	4	Tonique Williams	Bahamas	50.76
	6	Novlene Williams	Jamaica	51.12
4	3	Christine Amertil	Bahamas	51.52
5	2	Shericka Williams	Jamaica	51.81
6	7	Hazel-Ann Regis	Grenada	52.35
7	1	Manjit Kaur	India	52.58
8	8	Rosemary Hayward	Australia	52.81