1997 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres

These are the results of the Women's 400 metres event at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics in Athens, Greece.

Medalists edit

Gold	Cathy Freeman Australia (AUS)
Silver	Sandie Richards Jamaica (JAM)
Bronze	Jearl Miles Clark United States (USA)

First 4 of each Heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the quarterfinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Helena Dziurova-Fuchsová	Czech Republic	51.05	Q, PB
2	4	Grit Breuer	Germany	51.43	Q
3	5	Lorraine Graham	Jamaica	51.45	Q
4	5	Cathy Freeman	Australia	51.53	Q
5	4	Olga Kotlyarova	Russia	51.55	Q
6	2	Sandie Richards	Jamaica	51.57	Q
6	5	Maicel Malone-Wallace	United States	51.57	Q
8	1	Tatyana Alekseyeva	Russia	51.61	Q
8	5	Pauline Davis-Thompson	Bahamas	51.61	Q
10	2	Jearl Miles Clark	United States	51.77	Q
10	4	Falilat Ogunkoya	Nigeria	51.77	Q
12	5	Anja Rucker	Germany	51.84	q
13	3	Kim Graham	United States	51.92	Q
14	2	Allison Curbishley	Great Britain	51.97	Q
15	1	Damayanthi Dharsha	Sri Lanka	51.99	Q, NR
16	1	Olabisi Afolabi	Nigeria	52.13	Q
17	4	Naděžda Koštovalová	Czech Republic	52.15	Q
18	2	Norfalia Carabalí	Colombia	52.18	Q
19	3	Donna Fraser	Great Britain	52.21	Q
20	1	Tonique Williams	Bahamas	52.30	q
21	1	Ladonna Antoine	Canada	52.44	q
22	4	Adri de Jongh	South Africa	52.47	q
23	3	Patrizia Spuri	Italy	52.54	Q
24	3	Tatyana Chebykina	Russia	52.57	Q
25	2	Hana Benešová	Czech Republic	52.74
26	5	Marina Filipović	Yugoslavia	53.16
27	5	Svetlana Bodritskaya	Kazakhstan	53.28
28	3	Inez Turner	Jamaica	53.34
29	2	Mayra González	Mexico	53.63
30	1	Maria Figueiredo	Brazil	53.95
31	4	Zoila Stewart	Costa Rica	54.03
32	3	Christina Panagou	Greece	54.23
33	2	Nadjina Kaltouma	Chad	54.49
34	4	Dijana Kojić	Bosnia and Herzegovina	55.06	PB
35	3	Grace Dinkins	Liberia	55.19
36	2	Cathalina Staye	Saint Lucia	55.54	NR
37	1	Charmaine Smit	Namibia	55.67
38	4	Olga Conte	Argentina	55.82
	3	Charity Opara	Nigeria	DNS

First 4 of each Heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Sandie Richards	Jamaica	50.08	Q, PB
2	1	Helena Dziurova-Fuchsová	Czech Republic	50.36	Q, PB
3	2	Falilat Ogunkoya	Nigeria	50.39	Q
4	1	Pauline Davis-Thompson	Bahamas	50.53	Q, SB
5	1	Olga Kotlyarova	Russia	50.63	Q, PB
6	2	Grit Breuer	Germany	50.65	Q
7	3	Jearl Miles Clark	United States	50.66	Q
8	3	Cathy Freeman	Australia	50.75	Q
9	1	Maicel Malone-Wallace	United States	50.77	q
10	1	Allison Curbishley	Great Britain	50.78	q
11	2	Tatyana Alekseyeva	Russia	50.90	Q
12	3	Lorraine Graham	Jamaica	51.03	Q
13	3	Olabisi Afolabi	Nigeria	51.07	Q
14	3	Donna Fraser	Great Britain	51.11	q, PB
15	1	Anja Rucker	Germany	51.36	q, SB
16	3	Norfalia Carabalí	Colombia	51.42	SB
17	3	Tatyana Chebykina	Russia	51.57
18	2	Kim Graham	United States	51.72	Q
19	3	Patrizia Spuri	Italy	52.15	SB
20	2	Ladonna Antoine	Canada	52.37
21	2	Naděžda Koštovalová	Czech Republic	52.61
22	2	Damayanthi Darsha	Sri Lanka	53.49
23	2	Tonique Williams	Bahamas	54.23
	1	Adri de Jongh	South Africa	DNF

First 4 of each Semifinal qualified directly (Q) for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Jearl Miles Clark	United States	50.05	Q
2	1	Falilat Ogunkoya	Nigeria	50.06	Q
3	1	Cathy Freeman	Australia	50.11	Q
4	2	Sandie Richards	Jamaica	50.21	Q
5	2	Grit Breuer	Germany	50.33	Q, SB
6	2	Helena Dziurova-Fuchsová	Czech Republic	50.69	Q
7	1	Pauline Davis-Thompson	Bahamas	50.77	Q
8	1	Lorraine Graham	Jamaica	50.90
9	2	Tatyana Alekseyeva	Russia	50.98	Q
10	1	Olga Kotlyarova	Russia	51.03
11	2	Maicel Malone-Wallace	United States	51.40
12	2	Allison Curbishley	Great Britain	51.42
13	2	Olabisi Afolabi	Nigeria	51.44
14	2	Kim Graham	United States	51.54
15	1	Anja Rucker	Germany	51.94
	1	Donna Fraser	Great Britain	DNS

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	1	Cathy Freeman	Australia	49.77
	5	Sandie Richards	Jamaica	49.79	PB
	4	Jearl Miles Clark	United States	49.90
4	6	Grit Breuer	Germany	50.06	SB
5	3	Falilat Ogunkoya	Nigeria	50.27
6	8	Helena Dziurova-Fuchsová	Czech Republic	50.66
7	7	Pauline Davis-Thompson	Bahamas	50.68
8	2	Tatyana Alekseyeva	Russia	51.37