| Final | | time | | | 1. Sabine Busch |  East Germany | 51.40s | | | 2. Petra Müller | East Germany | 51.59s | | | 3. Ann-Louise Skoglund |  Sweden | 52.40s | NR | | 4. Taťána Kocembová |  Czechoslovakia | 53.16s | |
|
|
|
Semi-Finals - Saturday, 22nd February | | First 2 from each Semi advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | | time | | | 1. Sabine Busch | East Germany | 52.17s | Q | | 3. Taťána Kocembová | Czechoslovakia | 53.27s | Q | | 6. Ute Thimm |  West Germany | 54.24s | | | 7. Gisela Kinzel | West Germany | 55.09s | |
|
|
| Semi 2 | | time | | | 2. Petra Müller | East Germany | 52.91s | Q | | 4. Ann-Louise Skoglund | Sweden | 53.39s | Q | | 5. Erica Rossi |  Italy | 53.67s | | | 8. Astrid Ortel | West Germany | 56.68s | |
|
|
Heats - Saturday, 22nd February | | Winners of each Heat and next Best 4 advanced to Semi-Finals. |
| Heat 1 | | time | | | 1. Petra Müller | East Germany | 52.47s | Q | | 2. Taťána Kocembová | Czechoslovakia | 53.16s | q | | 11.Fabienne Lise |  France | 54.97s | |
|
|
| Heat 2 | | time | | | 4. Sabine Busch | East Germany | 54.03s | Q | | 6. Astrid Ortel | West Germany | 54.21s | q | | 7. Erica Rossi | Italy | 54.25s | q | | 14.Semra Aksu |  Turkey | 56.13s | |
|
| Heat 3 | | time | | | 9. Ute Thimm | West Germany | 54.86s | Q | | 12.Angela Piggford |  Great Britain | 55.07s | | | 13.Pepa Pavlova |  Bulgaria | 55.34s | | | -. Cristieana Cojocaru |  Romania | DNS | |
|
|
| Heat 4 | | time | | | 3. Ann-Louise Skoglund | Sweden | 53.98s | Q | | 5. Gisela Kinzel | West Germany | 54.08s | q | | 8. Cristina Pérez |  Spain | 54.25s | | | 10.Gerda Haas |  Austria | 54.94s | |
|
| 