See main article: article and 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
The winning margin was 0.01 seconds which as of July 2024 is the only time the women's 400 metres has been won by less than a tenth of a second at these championships. Of the six finalists, the winner had the slowest reaction time.
| Gold | ||
| Silver | ||
| Bronze | ||
| Heat | Lane | Name | Country | Mark | Q | React |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 51.96 | Q | 0.244 | ||
| 1 | 4 | 52.45 | Q | 0.258 | ||
| 1 | 3 | 54.02 PB | Q | 0.217 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 55.37 | 0.237 | |||
| 1 | 2 | 57.62 NR | 0.282 | |||
| 1 | 5 | DNF | 0.315 | |||
| 2 | 5 | 52.40 | Q | 0.157 | ||
| 2 | 3 | 52.64 | Q | 0.163 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 52.65 | Q | 0.240 | ||
| 2 | 4 | 53.04 | q | 0.146 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 53.52 NR | q | 0.257 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 57.55 | 0.281 | |||
| 3 | 6 | 52.96 PB | Q | 0.290 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 53.32 SB | Q | 0.249 | ||
| 3 | 5 | 53.34 | Q | 0.187 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 53.44 | q | 0.187 | ||
| 3 | 4 | 53.66 | 0.195 | |||
| 3 | 1 | 54.02 SB | 0.209 | |||
| Heat | Lane | Name | Country | Mark | Q | React | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 51.75 | Q | 0.315 | |||
| 1 | 3 | 51.79 PB | Q | 0.228 | |||
| 1 | 6 | 51.85 PB | Q | 0.248 | |||
| 1 | 1 | 53.30 NR | 0.317 | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 54.23 | 0.275 | ||||
| 1 | 4 | DNS | |||||
| 2 | 6 | 51.62 | Q | 0.287 | |||
| 2 | 3 | 51.87 PB | Q | 0.193 | |||
| 2 | 4 | 52.83 SB | Q | 0.273 | |||
| 2 | 2 | 53.16 | 0.142 | ||||
| 2 | 5 | 53.21 | 0.266 | ||||
| 2 | 1 | 53.33 | 0.173 | ||||
| Heat | Lane | Name | Country | Mark | React |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 51.09 WL | 0.297 | |||
| 5 | 51.10 SB | 0.247 | |||
| 3 | 51.41 PB | 0.237 | |||
| 4 | 4 | 51.53 PB | 0.147 | ||
| 5 | 2 | 53.07 | 0.269 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 53.10 | 0.257 | ||