| Final | time |   |  | 1. Anna Chmelková |  TCH | 52.9s | CR NR |  | 2. Antónia Munkácsi |  HUN | 53.9s |   |  | 3. Monique Noirot |  FRA | 54.0s |   |  | 4. Lyudmila Samotyosova |  URS | 54.0s |   |  | 5. Helga Henning |  FRG | 54.1s | NR |  | 6. Berit Berthelsen |  NOR | 54.1s | NR |  | 7. Zsuzsa Szabó |  HUN | 54.3s |   |  | 8. Lia Louer |  NED | 55.0s |   |   
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| Semi 1 | time |   |  | 1. Zsuzsa Szabó |  HUN | 54.0s | Q |  | 2. Anna Chmelková |  TCH | 54.0s | Q |  | 3. Berit Berthelsen |  NOR | 54.2s | NR Q |  | 4. Lia Louer |  NED | 54.4s | Q |  | 5. Karin Wallgren |  SWE | 54.5s | NR |  | 6. Hilda Slaman |  NED | 54.8s |   |  | 7. Deirdre Watkinson |  GBR | 55.7s |   |  | 8. Grażyna Chodorek |  POL | 56.8s |   |   
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| Semi 2 | time |   |  | 1. Antónia Munkácsi |  HUN | 53.9s | Q |  | 2. Monique Noirot |  FRA | 54.0s | Q |  | 3. Helga Henning |  FRG | 54.2s | Q |  | 4. Lyudmila Samotyosova |  URS | 54.2s | Q |  | 5. Rosemary Stirling |  GBR | 54.5s |   |  | 6. Stans Brehm |  NED | 54.9s |   |  | 7. Tove Bakkejord |  NOR | 55.4s |   |  | 8. Paola Pigni |  ITA | 55.6s |   |   
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  Heats - Tuesday 30.08 17:10 |  |  First 3 and Best 1 (Lyudmila Samotyesova-URS) progress to Semi-Finals. |   
| Heat 1 | time |   |  | 1. Paola Pigni |  ITA | 54.8s | Q |  | 2. Karin Wallgren |  SWE | 55.3s | Q |  | 3. Grażyna Chodorek |  POL | 55.7s | Q |  | 4. Ljiljana Petnjarić |  YUG | 55.8s |   |  | 5. Lilita Zāģere |  URS | 56.3s |   |  | 6. Adile Dani |  ALB | 59.3s | NR |   
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| Heat 2 | time |   |  | 1. Anna Chmelková |  TCH | 53.6s | NR Q |  | 2. Lia Louer |  NED | 54.5s | Q |  | 3. Deirdre Watkinson |  GBR | 54.9s | Q |  | 4. Sára Szenteleki |  HUN | 54.9s |   |  | 5. Maeve Kyle |  IRL | 55.4s |   |  | 6. Brigitte Flach |  GDR | 56.0s |   |  | -. Bradescu |  ROU | DNS |   |   
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| Heat 3 | time |   |  | 1. Zsuzsa Szabó |  HUN | 54.6s | Q |  | 2. Stans Brehm |  NED | 54.9s | Q |  | 3. Tove Bakkejord |  NOR | 55.1s | Q |  | 4. Natalya Runova |  URS | 55.2s |   |  | 5. Ika Maričić |  YUG | 55.2s |   |  | 6. Francine Peyskens |  BEL | 57.6s | NR |  | -. Grieveson |  GBR | DNS |   |   
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| Heat 4 | time |   |  | 1. Rosemary Stirling |  GBR | 54.2s | Q |  | 2. Berit Berthelsen |  NOR | 54.4s | Q |  | 3. Hilda Slaman |  NED | 54.7s | Q |  | 4. Évelyne Lebret |  FRA | 55.0s |   |  | 5. Libuše Macounová |  TCH | 55.4s |   |  | 6. Donata Govoni |  ITA | 55.9s |   |   
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| Heat 5 | time |   |  | 1. Antónia Munkácsi |  HUN | 54.0s | Q |  | 2. Monique Noirot |  FRA | 54.4s | Q |  | 3. Helga Henning |  FRG | 54.5s | Q |  | 4. Lyudmila Samotyosova |  URS | 54.6s | q |  | 5. Libuše Eichlerová |  TCH | 55.3s |   |  | 6. Celina Gerwin |  POL | 55.9s |   |   
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