| Final | time | | 1. Yvonne Murray |  Great Britain | 8:43.06 | | 2. Yelena Romanova |  Soviet Union | 8:43.68 | | 3. Roberta Brunet |  Italy | 8:46.19 | | 4. Lyubov Kremlyova | Soviet Union | 8:46.94 | | 5. Margareta Keszeg |  Romania | 8:48.04 | | 6. Päivi Tikkanen |  Finland | 8:50.26 | | 7. Zita Agoston |  Hungary | 8:51.07 | | 8. Sonia McGeorge | Great Britain | 8:51.33 | | 9. Gitte Karlshoej |  Denmark | 8:51.44 | | 10.Alison Wyeth | Great Britain | 8:52.26 | | 11.Sonia O'Sullivan |  Ireland | 8:52.65 | | 12.Martine Fays |  France | 8:56.36 | | 13.Roisin Smyth | Ireland | 9:00.87 | | -. Marie Pierre Duros | France | |
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| Heat 1 | time | | 1. Yelena Romanova | Soviet Union | 8:52.92 | | 2. Lyubov Kremlyova | Soviet Union | 8:53.81 | | 3. Roberta Brunet | Italy | 8:54.34 | | 4. Gritte Karlshoej | Denmark | 8:54.46 | | 5. Sonia O'Sullivan | Ireland | 8:55.12 | | 6. Sonia McGeorge | Great Britain | 8:55.00 | | 7. Martine Fays | France | 8:59.96 | | 8. Jana Kucerikova |  Czechoslovakia | 9:04.40 | | 9. Fernanda Ribeiro |  Portugal | 9:11.39 | | 10.Alice Silva | Portugal | 9:16.75 | | 11.Andri Avraam |  Cyprus | 9:22.66 |
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| Heat 2 | time | | 1. Yvonne Murray | Great Britain | 8:57.25 | | 2. Margareta Keszeg | Romania | 8:57.42 | | 3. Päivi Tikkanen | Finland | 8:57.84 | | 4. Alison Wyeth | Great Britain | 8:58.31 | | 5. Zita Agoston | Hungary | 8:58.41 | | 6. Marie Pierre Duros | France | 8:59.95 | | 7. Roisin Smyth | Ireland | 9:01.06 | | 8. Elly Van Hulst |  Netherlands | 9:01.73 | | 9. Estela Estévez |  Spain | 9:05.25 | | 10.Aurora Cunha | Portugal | 9:06.88 | | 11.Valerie McGovern | Ireland | 9:14.39 |
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