| Rank | Heat | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| 1. | 2 | | Michelle Freeman, Dahlia Duhaney, Beverly McDonald, Merlene Ottey | 42.36 | Q |
| 2. | 1 | | Celena Mondie-Milner, Carlette Guidry-White, Chryste Gaines, D'Andre Hill | 42.44 | Q |
| 3. | 2 | | Natalya Pomoshchnikova-Voronova, Galina Malchugina, Marina Trandenkova, Yekaterina Leshchova | 42.49 | Q |
| 4. | 1 | | Odile Singa, Frédérique Bangué, Patricia Girard, Delphine Combe | 42.56 | Q, NR |
| 5. | 1 | | Eldece Clarke-Lewis, Debbie Ferguson, Sevatheda Fynes, Pauline Davis-Thompson | 42.74 | Q, NR |
| 6. | 2 | | Melanie Paschke, Silke Lichtenhagen, Silke-Beate Knoll, Gabriele Becker | 42.83 | Q |
| 7. | 2 | | Manuela Mera Elia, Felipa Palacios, Patricia Rodríguez, Mirtha Brock | 43.42 | q, NR |
| 8. | 1 | | Jutta Kemila, Sanna Hernesniemi-Kyllönen, Heide Suomi, Heli Koivula | 43.71 | q |
| 9. | 2 | | Marcia Richardson, Catherine Murphy, Simmone Jacobs, Paula Thomas | 43.90 | |
| 10. | 1 | | Hsu Pei-Chin, Liu Shu-Hua, Chen Shu-Chen, Wang Huei-Chen | 45.18 | |
| 1 | | Idalia Hechavarria, Aliuska López, Virgen Benavides, Liliana Allen | | |
| 1 | | Myriam Mani, Georgette Nkoma, Agnes Egbe Ndeh, Sylvie Mballa Eloundou | | |
| 2 | | Carla Tuzzi, Rossella Farina, Laura Ardissone, Manuela Levorato | | |
