# 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

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

## Results
### Heats

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 | |

### Quarterfinals

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 | |

### Semifinals

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 | |

### Final

| 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 | |