| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Gunhild Hoffmeister |  East Germany | 4:11.7 | Q | | 2. Gabriella Dorio |  Italy | 4:12.1 | Q | | 3. Tamara Pangelova |  Soviet Union | 4:12.8 | Q | | 4. Natalia Mărăşescu |  Romania | 4:14.1 | | | 5. Rumyana Chavdarova |  Bulgaria | 4:15.1 | | | 6. Czesława Surdel |  Poland | 4:18.7 | | | 7. Wenche Sorum |  Norway | 4:19.3 | | | 8. Loa Olafsson |  Denmark | 4:28.0 | | | 9. Sylvia Schenk |  West Germany | 4:30.1 | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Tatyana Kazankina | Soviet Union | 4:11.4 | Q | | 2. Lilyana Todorova | Bulgaria | 4:11.5 | Q | | 3. Ellen Wellmann | West Germany | 4:11.5 | Q | | 4. Gunilla Lindh |  Sweden | 4:11.5 | q | | 5. Ulrike Klapezynski | East Germany | 4:11.7 | q | | 6. Carmen Valero |  Spain | 4:13.0 | NR q | | 7. Sonja Castelein |  Belgium | 4:13.2 | NR | | 8. Nina Holmén |  Finland | 4:14.6 | |
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Great Britain
Ireland
