Final | time | | 1. Sally Gunnell | Great Britain | 53.23s | | 2. Sandra Farmer-Patrick | United States | 53.69s | | 3. Janeene Vickers | United States | 54.31s | | 4. Tatyana Ledovskaya | United Team | 54.31s | | 5. Vera Ordina | United Team | 54.83s | | 6. Margarita Ponomaryova | United Team | 54.83s | | 7. Deon Hemmings | Jamaica | 55.58s | | -. Myrtle Bothma | South Africa | DNF | |
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| Venue: Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc 67,007. | -- competitors from -- nations. | Semifinals | Heats |
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World record: 52.94s Marina Stepanova, Soviet Union Tashkent, Soviet Union September 17, 1986 | Olympic record: 53.17s Debbie Flintoff-King, United States Seoul, South Korea September 28, 1988 |
Semi 1 | time | | 1. Sally Gunnell | Great Britain | 53.78s | | 2. Vera Ordina | United Team | 54.37s | | 3. Janeene Vickers | United States | 54.67s | | 4. Deon Hemmings | Jamaica | 54.70s | | 5. Nezha Bidouane | Marocco | 55.08s | | 6. Heike Meißner | Germany | 55.35s | | 7. Frida Johansson | Sweden | 55.85s | | 8. Donalda Duprey | Canada | 56.30s | |
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Semi 2 | time | | 1. Sandra Farmer-Patrick | United States | 53.90s | | 2. Margarita Ponomaryova | United Team | 53.98s | | 3. Tatyana Ledovskaya | United Team | 54.53s | | 4. Myrtle Bothma | South Africa | 54.53s | | 5. Gowry Retchakan | Great Britain | 54.63s | | 6. Tonja Buford | United States | 55.04s | | 7. Rosey Edeh | Canada | 55.76s | | 8. Irmgard Trojer | Italy | 56.34s | |
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Heat 1 | time | | 1. Sandra Farmer-Patrick | United States | 55.12s | | 2. Margarita Ponomaryova | United Team | 55.36s | | 3. Myrtle Bothma | South Africa | 55.60s | | 4. Rosey Edeh | Canada | 55.66s | | 5. Louise Fraser | Great Britain | 57.49s | | -. Addo Ndala | Congo | DNF | | -. Linda Kisabaka | Germany | DNS | |
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Heat 2 | time | | 1. Tatyana Ledovskaya | United Team | 55.03s | | 2. Heike Meißner | Germany | 55.62s | | 3. Gowry Retchakan | Great Britain | 55.62s | | 4. Monica Westén | Sweden | 56.68s | | 5. Nicoleta Vornicu | Romania | 57.18s | | 6. Marta Moreira | Portugal | 58.24s | | 7. Liliana Chalá | Ecuador | 58.55s | |
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Heat 3 | time | | 1. Janeene Vickers | United States | 55.24s | | 2. Vera Ordina | United Team | 55.25s | | 3. Deon Hemmings | Jamaica | 55.48s | | 4. Nezha Bidouane | Marocco | 55.95s | | 5. Frida Johansson | Sweden | 56.13s | | 6. Donalda Duprey | Canada | 56.37s | | 7. Mary-Estelle Kapalu | VAN | 1:00.97 | |
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Heat 4 | time | | 1. Sally Gunnell | Great Britain | 54.98s | | 2. Irmgard Trojer | Italy | 55.49s | | 3. Tonja Buford | United States | 56.35s | | 4. Silvia Rieger | Germany | 56.61s | | 5. Miriam Alonso Manteca | Spain | 57.66s | | 6. Gail Luke | Australia | 58.32s | | 7. Reawadee Srithoa | Thailand | 58.80s | |
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