| Final | time |  | 1. Marita Koch |   East Germany | 48.88s |  | 2. Jarmila Kratochvilova |   Czechoslovakia | 49.46s |  | 3. Christina Lathan |   East Germany | 49.66s |  | 4. Irina Nazarova |   Soviet Union | 50.07s |  | 5. Nina Ziuskova |   Soviet Union | 50.17s |  | 6. Gabriele Lowe |   East Germany | 51.33s |  | 7. Pirjo Haggman |   Finland | 51.35s |  | 8. Linsey Macdonald |   Great Britain | 52.40s |   
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|   |  | Venue: Central Lenin Stadium, Luzhniki 100,000. |  | 39 competitors from -- nations. |   
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| Semi 1 | time |  | 1. Marita Koch |   East Germany | 50.57s |  | 2. Gabriele Lowe |   East Germany | 50.85s |  | 3. Pirjo Heggman |   Finland | 51.02s |  | 4. Nina Ziuskova |   Soviet Union | 51.12s |  | 5. Liudmila Chernova |   Soviet Union | 51.30s |  | 6. Joslyn Hoyte-Smith |   Great Britain | 51.47s |  | 7. Malgorzata Dunecka |   Poland | 51.93s |  | 8. Rossitsa Stamenova |   Bulgaria | 52.96s |   
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| Semi 2 | time |  | 1. Christina Lathan |   East Germany | 50.16s |  | 2. Irina Nazarova |   Soviet Union | 50.18s |  | 3. Jarmila Kratochvilova |   Czechoslovakia | 50.79s |  | 4. Linsey Macdonald |   Great Britain | 51.60s |  | 5. Michelle Probert |   Great Britain | 51.89s |  | 6. Ilona Pal |   Hungary | 51.99s |  | 7. Grazyna Oliszewska |   Poland | 52.36s |  | 8. Irena Szewinska |   Poland | 53.13s |   
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| Heat 1 | time |  | 1. Christina Lathan |   East Germany | 51.33s |  | 2. Ilona Pal |   Hungary | 51.99s |  | 3. Michelle Probert |   Great Britain | 52.16s |  | 4. Svobodka Damianova |   Bulgaria | 52.23s |  | 5. Niculina Lazarciuc |   Romania | 52.52s |  | 6. Ann-Louise Skoglund |   Sweden | 52.78s |  | 7. Kehinde Vaughan |   Nigeria | 53.54s |  | 8. Eugenia Osho-Williams |   Siera Leone | 1:00.44 |   
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| Heat 2 | time |  | 1. Joslyn Hoyte-Smith |   Great Britain | 52.24s |  | 2. Gabriele Lowe |   East Germany | 52.43s |  | 3. Grazyna Oliszewska |   Poland | 52.62s |  | 4. Mary Akinyemi |   Nigeria | 52.64s |  | 5. Elena Tarfta |   Romania | 52.96s |  | 6. Milena Andonova |   Bulgaria | 53.30s |  | 7. Anne Michel |   Belgium | 54.22s |  | 8. Acacia Mate |   Mozambique | 1:00.90 |   
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| Heat 3 | time |  | 1. Nina Ziuskova |   Soviet Union | 51.42s |  | 2. Linsey Macdonald |   Great Britain | 52.57s |  | 3. Rositsa Stamenova |   Bulgaria | 52.71s |  | 4. Maria Samungi |   Romania | 52.89s |  | 5. Sophie Malbranque |   France | 53.46s |  | 6. Hala el-Moughrabi |   Syria | 59.33s |  | 7. Xiomara Larios |   Nicaragua | 1:01.50 |  | -. Rita Bottiglieri |   Italy | DNS |   
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| Heat 4 | time |  | 1. Jarmila Kratochvilova |   Czechoslovakia | 51.04s |  | 2. Marita Koch |   East Germany | 51.06s |  | 3. Liudmila Chernova |   Soviet Union | 51.51s |  | 4. Malgorzata Dunecka |   Poland | 51.81s |  | 5. Rosine Wallez |   Belgium | 52.00s |  | 6. Gloria Ayanlaja |   Nigeria | 53.55s |  | 7. Ruth Simpson |   Jamaica | 55.59s |  | 8. Thi Ngoc Tran Anh |   Vietnam |   |   
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| Heat 5 | time |  | 1. Irina Nazarova |   Soviet Union | 51.66s |  | 2. Pirjo H¤ggman |   Finland | 52.56s |  | 3. Irena Szewinska |   Poland | 52.57s |  | 4. Karoline K¤fer |   Austria | 52.82s |  | 5. Erika Rossi |   Italy | 52.98s |  | 6. Judit Forgacs |   Hungary | 53.06s |  | 7. Mariarne Boye |   Senegal | 55.16s |   
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