| Final | time | | | 1. Sally Gunnell |  Great Britain | 53.23s | | | 2. Sandra Farmer-Patrick |  United States | 53.69s | | | 3. Janeene Vickers | United States | 54.31s | | | 4. Tatyana Ledovskaya |  United Team | 54.31s | | | 5. Vera Ordina | United Team | 54.83s | | | 6. Margarita Ponomaryova | United Team | 54.83s | | | 7. Deon Hemmings |  Jamaica | 55.58s | | | -. Myrtle Bothma |  South Africa | DNF | |
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| | | Venue: Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc 67,007. | | -- competitors from -- nations. | | Semifinals | | Heats |
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| World record: 52.94s Marina Stepanova, Soviet Union Tashkent, Soviet Union September 17, 1986 | | Olympic record: 53.17s Debbie Flintoff-King, United States Seoul, South Korea September 28, 1988 |
| Semi 1 | time | | | 1. Sally Gunnell | Great Britain | 53.78s | | | 2. Vera Ordina | United Team | 54.37s | | | 3. Janeene Vickers | United States | 54.67s | | | 4. Deon Hemmings | Jamaica | 54.70s | | | 5. Nezha Bidouane |  Marocco | 55.08s | | | 6. Heike Meißner |  Germany | 55.35s | | | 7. Frida Johansson |  Sweden | 55.85s | | | 8. Donalda Duprey |  Canada | 56.30s | |
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| Semi 2 | time | | | 1. Sandra Farmer-Patrick | United States | 53.90s | | | 2. Margarita Ponomaryova | United Team | 53.98s | | | 3. Tatyana Ledovskaya | United Team | 54.53s | | | 4. Myrtle Bothma | South Africa | 54.53s | | | 5. Gowry Retchakan | Great Britain | 54.63s | | | 6. Tonja Buford | United States | 55.04s | | | 7. Rosey Edeh | Canada | 55.76s | | | 8. Irmgard Trojer |  Italy | 56.34s | |
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| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Sandra Farmer-Patrick | United States | 55.12s | | | 2. Margarita Ponomaryova | United Team | 55.36s | | | 3. Myrtle Bothma | South Africa | 55.60s | | | 4. Rosey Edeh | Canada | 55.66s | | | 5. Louise Fraser | Great Britain | 57.49s | | | -. Addo Ndala |  Congo | DNF | | | -. Linda Kisabaka | Germany | DNS | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Tatyana Ledovskaya | United Team | 55.03s | | | 2. Heike Meißner | Germany | 55.62s | | | 3. Gowry Retchakan | Great Britain | 55.62s | | | 4. Monica Westén | Sweden | 56.68s | | | 5. Nicoleta Vornicu |  Romania | 57.18s | | | 6. Marta Moreira |  Portugal | 58.24s | | | 7. Liliana Chalá |  Ecuador | 58.55s | |
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| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Janeene Vickers | United States | 55.24s | | | 2. Vera Ordina | United Team | 55.25s | | | 3. Deon Hemmings | Jamaica | 55.48s | | | 4. Nezha Bidouane | Marocco | 55.95s | | | 5. Frida Johansson | Sweden | 56.13s | | | 6. Donalda Duprey | Canada | 56.37s | | | 7. Mary-Estelle Kapalu |  VAN | 1:00.97 | |
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| Heat 4 | time | | | 1. Sally Gunnell | Great Britain | 54.98s | | | 2. Irmgard Trojer | Italy | 55.49s | | | 3. Tonja Buford | United States | 56.35s | | | 4. Silvia Rieger | Germany | 56.61s | | | 5. Miriam Alonso Manteca |  Spain | 57.66s | | | 6. Gail Luke |  Australia | 58.32s | | | 7. Reawadee Srithoa |  Thailand | 58.80s | |
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