| Final | | time | | | 1. Elke Decker |  West Germany | 52.28s | | | 2. Karoline Käfer |  Austria | 52.70s | | | 3. Tatyana Goyshchik |  Soviet Union | 52.71s | | | 4. Rositsa Stamenova |  Bulgaria | 53.06s | |
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| | First 2 from each Semi advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | | time | | | 1. Elke Decker | West Germany | 52.30s | Q | | 4. Rositsa Stamenova | Bulgaria | 53.37s | Q | | 6. Rosine Wallez |  Belgium | 53.70s | | | 8. Marie-Christine Champenois |  France | 54.00s | |
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| Semi 2 | | time | | | 2. Tatyana Goyshchik | Soviet Union | 53.19s | Q | | 3. Karoline Käfer | Austria | 53.31s | Q | | 5. Svobodka Damyanova | Bulgaria | 53.52s | | | 7. Ilona Pál |  Hungary | 53.74s | |
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Heats - Saturday, 1st March | | First 2 from each Heat and next Best 2 advanced to Semi-Finals. |
| Heat 1 | | time | | | 6. Karoline Käfer | Austria | 54.13s | Q | | 8. Svobodka Damyanova | Bulgaria | 54.33s | Q | | 9. Tilly Verhoef |  Netherlands | 54.48s | NR |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | | 2. Tatyana Goyshchik | Soviet Union | 53.23s | Q | | 3. Ilona Pál | Hungary | 53.26s | Q | | 4. Rositsa Stamenova | Bulgaria | 53.45s | q | | 10.Mona Evjen |  Norway | 55.58s | |
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| Heat 3 | | time | | | 1. Elke Decker | West Germany | 52.76s | Q | | 5. Rosine Wallez | Belgium | 53.49s | Q | | 7. Marie-Christine Champenois | France | 54.30s | q |
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