| Final | time | | | 1. Marita Koch |  East Germany | 48.94s | Wr | | 2. Christina Brehmer | East Germany | 50.38s | | | 3. Irena Szewińska |  Poland | 50.40s | | | 4. Mariya Kulchunova |  Soviet Union | 51.25s | | | 5. Christiane Marquardt | East Germany | 51.99s | | | 6. Donna Hartley |  Great Britain | 52.31s | | | 7. Pirjo Häggman |  Finland | 52.46s | | | 8. Verona Elder | Great Britain | 52.53s | |
|
|
| | | First 4 from each Semi-Final advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | | | 1. Marita Koch | East Germany | 51.76s | Q | | 2. Mariya Kulchunova | Soviet Union | 51.88s | Q | | 3. Donna Hartley | Great Britain | 52.14s | Q | | 4. Pirjo Häggman | Finland | 52.24s | Q | | 5. Elke Decker |  West Germany | 52.92s | | | 6. Joslyn Hoyte | Great Britain | 52.95s | | | 7. Jarmila Kratochvílová |  Czechoslovakia | 53.93s | | | 8. Patricia Darbonville |  France | 54.47s | |
|
|
| Semi 2 | time | | | 1. Christina Brehmer | East Germany | 52.01s | Q | | 2. Christiane Marquardt | East Germany | 52.29s | Q | | 3. Irena Szewińska | Poland | 52.37s | Q | | 4. Verona Elder | Great Britain | 52.65s | Q | | 5. Gaby Bussmann | West Germany | 52.66s | | | 6. Dagmar Fuhrmann | West Germany | 53.23s | | | 7. Ilona Pál |  Hungary | 53.50s | | | 8. Marina Sidorova | Soviet Union | 54.08s | |
|
Heats - Tuesday 29.08 | | First 3 from each Heat nad 4 | Best times advanced to Semi-Finals. |
| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Marita Koch | East Germany | 52.95s | Q | | 2. Irena Szewińska | Poland | 53.14s | Q | | 3. Ilona Pál | Hungary | 53.42s | Q | | 4. Patricia Darbonville | France | 53.50s | q | | 5. Rosine Wallez |  Belgium | 53.99s | | | 6. Anne Aren |  Sweden | 54.37s | |
|
|
| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Christiane Marquardt | East Germany | 52.12s | Q | | 2. Joslyn Hoyte | Great Britain | 52.29s | Q | | 3. Gaby Bussmann | West Germany | 52.92s | Q | | 4. Jarmila Kratochvílová | Czechoslovakia | 53.33s | q | | 5. Marina Sidorova | Soviet Union | 53.72s | q | | 6. Yvonne Hannus | Finland | 53.98s | | | 7. Ibolya Petrika | Hungary | 54.01s | |
|
| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Christina Brehmer | East Germany | 51.71s | Q | | 2. Verona Elder | Great Britain | 52.64s | Q | | 3. Pirjo Häggman | Finland | 52.68s | Q | | 4. Elke Decker | West Germany | 52.97s | q | | 5. Catherine Delachanal | France | 53.81s | | | 6. Truus van Amstel |  Netherlands | 54.37s | |
|
|
| Heat 4 | time | | | 1. Mariya Kulchunova | Soviet Union | 51.55s | Q | | 2. Dagmar Fuhrmann | West Germany | 53.45s | Q | | 3. Donna Hartley | Great Britain | 53.61s | Q | | 4. Silvia Schinzel |  Austria | 53.80s | | | 5. Rozalia Halmosi |  Hungary | 53.93s | | | 6. Eva Ráková | Czechoslovakia | 54.00s | |
|
| 
