| POS | Rank | Heat | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Hassiba Boulmerka |
ALG |
4:11.34 Q |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | Kelly Holmes |
GBR |
4:11.87 Q |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | Lyudmila Borisova |
RUS |
4:12.07 Q |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | Sarah Thorsett |
USA |
4:12.10 Q |
| 5 | 5 | 1 | Carla Sacramento |
POR |
4:12.12 Q |
| 6 | 6 | 1 | Maite Zúñiga |
ESP |
4:12.30 Q |
| 7 | 7 | 1 | Petya Strashilova |
BUL |
4:13.27 q |
| 8 | 8 | 1 | Maria Akraka |
SWE |
4:13.38 q |
| 9 | 1 | 3 | Yvonne Mai-Graham |
JAM |
4:13.70 Q |
| 10 | 2 | 3 | Margarita Marusova |
RUS |
4:13.91 Q |
| 11 | 3 | 3 | Ruth Wysocki |
USA |
4:13.93 Q |
| 12 | 4 | 3 | Anna Brzezinska |
POL |
4:14.34 Q |
| 13 | 5 | 3 | Theresia Kiesl |
AUT |
4:14.52 Q |
| 14 | 6 | 3 | Leah Pells |
CAN |
4:14.69 Q |
| 15 | 9 | 1 | Julia Sakara |
ZIM |
4:15.02 q |
| 16 | 7 | 3 | Blandine Bitzner-Ducret |
FRA |
4:16.21 q |
| 17 | 1 | 2 | Kutre Dulecha |
ETH |
4:17.70 Q |
| 18 | 2 | 2 | Lyudmila Rogachova |
RUS |
4:18.14 Q |
| 19 | 3 | 2 | Malgorzata Rydz |
POL |
4:18.40 Q |
| 20 | 4 | 2 | Suzy Favor Hamilton |
USA |
4:18.49 Q |
| 21 | 8 | 3 | Marta DomÃnguez |
ESP |
4:18.61 q |
| 22 | 5 | 2 | Angela Chalmers |
CAN |
4:18.77 Q |
| 23 | 6 | 2 | Frédérique Quentin |
FRA |
4:18.86 Q |
| 24 | 7 | 2 | Yelena Bychkovskaya |
BLR |
4:18.97 q |
| 25 | 8 | 2 | Svetlana Miroshnik |
UKR |
4:19.12 |
| 26 | 9 | 3 | Bigna Samuel |
VIN |
4:25.94 |
| 27 | 9 | 2 | Khin Khin Htwe |
MYA |
4:26.69 |
| 28 | 10 | 3 | Nompumelelo Zwane |
SWZ |
4:49.32 |
| 29 | 10 | 2 | Rosemary Omundsen |
PNG |
4:51.86 |
| 30 | 10 | 1 | Nirmala Bharati |
NEP |
4:53.60 |