| Final | time | | 1. Tatyana Samolenko-Dorovskikh |  URS | 8:38.73 | | 2. Maricica Puica |  ROU | 8:39.45 | | 3. Ulrike Bruns |  GDR | 8:40.30 | | 4. Cornelia Burki |  SUI | 8:40.31 | | 5. Yelena Romanova | URS | 8:41.33 | | 6. Elly Van Hulst |  NED | 8:42.56 | | 7. Yvonne Murray |  GBR | 8:43.94 | | 8. Wendy Smith-Sly | GBR | 8:45.85 | | 9. Lynn Kanuka-Williams |  CAN | 8:49.91 | | 10.Mary Knisely |  USA | 8:50.99 | | 11.Vera Michallek |  FRG | 8:55.16 | | 12.Christine Tranter-Benning | GBR | 8:57.92 | | 13.Debbie Scott-Bowker | CAN | 8:58.63 | | 14.Marie-Pierre Duros |  FRA | 9:14.61 | | -. Olga Bondarenko | URS | DNF |
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| Round | H | Athl. | date | | Heats | 2 | 31 | 29.08 |
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| Heat 1 | time | | 1. Debbie Scott-Bowker | CAN | 8:46.88 | | 2. Ulrike Bruns | GDR | 8:47.15 | | 3. Cornelia Burki | SUI | 8:47.95 | | 4. Olga Bondarenko | URS | 8:48.11 | | 5. Yvonne Murray | GBR | 8:48.44 | | 6. Vera Michallek | FRG | 8:49.61 | | 7. Mary Knisely | USA | 8:49.61 | | 8. Annette Sergent-Palluy | FRA | 8:52.45 | | 9. Cindy Bremser | USA | 8:54.17 | | 10.Jackie Perkins |  AUS | 8:57.24 | | 11.Fernanda Ribeiro |  POR | 9:01.15 | | 12.Dorina Calenic-Briand | ROU | 9:01.83 | | 13.Satu Levela |  FIN | 9:16.28 | | 14.Monica Regonessi |  CHI | 9:26.11 | | 15.Raj Kumari Pandey |  NEP | 10:44.15 |
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| Heat 2 | time | | 1. Wendy Smith-Sly | GBR | 8:44.79 | | 2. Yelena Romanova | URS | 8:45.00 | | 3. Tatyana Samolenko-Dorovskikh | URS | 8:45.20 | | 4. Elly Van Hulst | NED | 8:45.20 | | 5. Maricica Puica | ROU | 8:45.55 | | 6. Marie-Pierre Duros | FRA | 8:46.81 | | 7. Lynn Kanuka-Williams | CAN | 8:47.43 | | 8. Christine Tranter-Benning | GBR | 8:48.63 | | 9. Xiuting Wang |  CHN | 8:50.68 | | 10.Paula Ilie-Ivan | ROU | 8:51.20 | | 11.Leslie Seymour | USA | 8:51.34 | | 12.Radka Naplatanova |  BUL | 8:51.98 | | 13.Agnese Possamai |  ITA | 8:57.85 | | 14.Andri Avraam |  CYP | 9:09.34 | | -. Martine Fays | FRA | DNF | | -. Fanny Gidiyoni |  MAW | DNS |
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