| Final | time | | 1. Irena Szewinska |  POL | 49.29s | | 2. Christina Brehmer |  GDR | 50.51s | | 3. Ellen Streidt | GDR | 50.55s | | 4. Pirjo Haggman |  FIN | 50.56s | | 5. Rosalyn Bryant |  USA | 50.65s | | 6. Sheila Ingram | USA | 50.90s | | 7. Riitta Salin | FIN | 50.98s | | 8. Debra Sapenter | USA | 51.66s |
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| Semi 1 | time | | 1. Irena Szewinska | POL | 50.48s | | 2. Ellen Streidt | GDR | 50.51s | | 3. Sheila Ingram | USA | 50.90s | | 4. Riitta Salin | FIN | 51.26s | | 5. Bethanie Nail |  AUS | 51.44s | | 6. Lyudmila Aksenova |  URS | 51.55s | | 7. Christiane Wildschek |  AUT | 52.20s | | -. Marita Koch | GDR | DNS |
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| Semi 2 | time | | 1. Rosalyn Bryant | USA | 50.62s | | 2. Christina Brehmer | GDR | 50.86s | | 3. Pirjo Haggman | FIN | 51.03s | | 4. Debra Sapenter | USA | 51.34s | | 5. Nadezhda Ilyina | URS | 51.42s | | 6. Verna Burnard | AUS | 51.71s | | 7. Rita Wilden |  FRG | 51.82s | | 8. Natalia Sokolova | URS | 51.95s |
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| Quarter 1 | time | | 1. Sheila Ingram | USA | 51.31s | | 2. Ellen Streidt | GDR | 51.33s | | 3. Pirjo Haggman | FIN | 51.35s | | 4. Lyudmila Aksenova | URS | 51.73s | | 5. Dagmar Fuhrmann | FRG | 52.02s | | 6. Judith Canty | AUS | 52.65s | | 7. Lorna Forde |  BAR | 53.62s | | 8. Rachelle Campbell |  CAN | 54.16s |
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| Quarter 2 | time | | 1. Natalia Sokolova | URS | 51.63s | | 2. Christina Brehmer | GDR | 51.67s | | 3. Verna Burnard | AUS | 51.79s | | 4. Rita Wilden | FRG | 52.41s | | 5. Gladys Taylor |  GBR | 53.71s | | 6. Marika Lindholm | FIN | 54.07s | | 7. Joyce Yakubowich | CAN | 55.02s | | -. Marilyn Neufville |  JAM | DNS |
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| Quarter 3 | time | | 1. Debra Sapenter | USA | 51.23s | | 2. Nadezhda Ilyina | URS | 51.32s | | 3. Bethanie Nail | AUS | 51.71s | | 4. Christiane Wildschek | AUT | 52.25s | | 5. Verona Elder | GBR | 52.70s | | 6. Rosine Wallez |  BEL | 53.04s | | 7. Silvia Hollmann | FRG | 53.77s | | 8. Ruth Simpson | JAM | 53.88s |
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| Quarter 4 | time | | 1. Riitta Salin | FIN | 51.62s | | 2. Rosalyn Bryant | USA | 51.74s | | 3. Marita Koch | GDR | 51.87s | | 4. Irena Szewinska | POL | 52.00s | | 5. Donna Murray | GBR | 52.29s | | 6. Rita Bottiglieri |  ITA | 52.51s | | 7. Regine Berg | BEL | 53.14s | | 8. Margaret Stride | CAN | 53.14s |
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| Heat 1 | time | | 1. Christina Brehmer | GDR | 52.45s | | 2. Verona Elder | GBR | 52.60s | | 3. Rita Wilden | FRG | 53.08s | | 4. Lorna Forde | BAR | 53.93s | | 5. Rachelle Campbell | CAN | 54.54s | | -. Marieme Boye |  SEN | DNS | | -. Rita Hendricks |  ISV | DNS |
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| Heat 2 | time | | 1. Debra Sapenter | USA | 52.33s | | 2. Donna Murray | GBR | 52.75s | | 3. Marita Koch | GDR | 52.78s | | 4. Regine Berg | BEL | 53.66s | | 5. Silvia Hollmann | FRG | 53.73s | | 6. Helen Blake | JAM | 53.93s | | 7. Ileana Hocking |  PUR | 57.85s |
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| Heat 3 | time | | 1. Ellen Streidt | GDR | 52.56s | | 2. Christiane Wildschek | AUT | 52.65s | | 3. Judith Canty | AUS | 52.88s | | 4. Marilyn Neufville | JAM | 52.93s | | 5. Rosine Wallez | BEL | 52.94s | | 6. Jelica Pavlicic |  YUG | 54.11s | | -.Chee Swee Lee |  SIN | DNS |
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| Heat 4 | time | | 1. Sheila Ingram | USA | 51.83s | | 2. Natalia Sokolova | URS | 52.45s | | 3. Irena Szewinska | POL | 52.75s | | 4. Joyce Yakubowich | CAN | 53.35s | | 5. Gladys Taylor | GBR | 53.46s | | 6. Marika Lindholm | FIN | 53.64s | | 7. Celestine N'Drin |  CIV | 54.13s |
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| Heat 5 | time | | 1. Rosalyn Bryant | USA | 52.01s | | 2. Riitta Salin | FIN | 52.57s | | 3. Lyudmila Aksenova | URS | 52.90s | | 4. Bethanie Nail | AUS | 52.98s | | 5. Ruth Simpson | JAM | 54.07s | | 6. Helen Ritter |  LIE | 58.52s | | -. Debbie Jones |  BER | DNS |
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| Heat 6 | time | | 1. Nadezhda Ilyina | URS | 51.97s | | 2. Verna Burnard | AUS | 52.10s | | 3. Dagmar Fuhrmann | FRG | 52.58s | | 4. Pirjo Haggman | FIN | 52.73s | | 5. Margaret Stride | CAN | 53.21s | | 6. Rita Bottiglieri | ITA | 53.37s | | 7. Rose Gauthier |  HAI | 1:13.27 |
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