Semi 1 | time | | 1. Silvia Hollmann | West Germany | 56.08s | Cr Q | 2. Anita Weiß | East Germany | 56.19s | Q | 3. Krystyna Kacperczyk | Poland | 56.20s | Q | 4. Karin Roßley | East Germany | 56.27s | Q | 5. Mary Appleby | Ireland | 57.36s | | 6. Marina Makeyeva | Soviet Union | 57.49s | | 7. Lea Alaerts | Belgium | 57.68s | | -. Svilenka Filipova | Bulgaria | DNF | |
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Semi 2 | time | | 1. Tatyana Zelentsova | Soviet Union | 55.89s | Cr Q | 2. Ingrīda Barkāne | Soviet Union | 56.32s | Q | 3. Brigitte Köhn | East Germany | 56.55s | Q | 4. Genowefa Błaszak | Poland | 56.67s | Q | 5. Erika Weinstein | West Germany | 57.22s | | 6. Hilde Fredriksen | Norway | 58.35s | | 7. Anne Michel | Belgium | 58.67s | | 8. Liz Sutherland | Great Britain | 1:02.83 | |
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