| Final | time | | 1. Nadezhda Olizarenko |  Soviet Union | 1:53.5 | | 2. Olga Mineeva | Soviet Union | 1:54.9 | | 3. Tatiana Providokhina | Soviet Union | 1:55.5 | | 4. Martina Kampfert |  East Germany | 1:56.3 | | 5. Hildegard Ullrich | East Germany | 1:57.2 | | 6. Jolanta Januchta |  Poland | 1:58.3 | | 7. Nikolina Shchereva |  Bulgaria | 1:58.8 | | 8. Gabriella Dorio |  Italy | 1:59.2 |
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| | | Venue: Central Lenin Stadium, Luzhniki 100,000. | | 29 competitors from -- nations. |
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| Semi 1 | time | | 1. Olga Mineeva | Soviet Union | 1:57.5 | | 2. Martina Kampfert | East Germany | 1:58.1 | | 3. Tatiana Providokhina | Soviet Union | 1:58.3 | | 4. Nikolina Shchereva | Bulgaria | 1:58.9 | | 5. Gabriella Dorio | Italy | 1:59.0 | | 6. Doina Besliu |  Romania | 2:00.8 | | 7. Elzbieta Katolik | Poland | 2:01.1 | | 8. Anne-Marie van Nuffel |  Belgium | 2:02.0 |
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| Semi 2 | time | | 1. Nadezhda Olizarenko | Soviet Union | 1:57.7 | | 2. Hildegard Ullrich | East Germany | 1:58.7 | | 3. Jolanta Januchta | Poland | 1:58.9 | | 4. Fisa Lovin | Romania | 1:59.2 | | 5. Vesela Yatsinska | Bulgaria | 1:59.9 | | 6. Totka Petrova | Bulgaria | 2:00.0 | | 7. Anna Bukis | Poland | 2:00.3 | | 8. Christina Boxer |  Great Britain | 2:00.9 |
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| Heat 1 | time | | 1. Gabriella Dorio | Italy | 2:01.4 | | 2. Olga Mineeva | Soviet Union | 2:01.5 | | 3. Doina Besliu | Romania | 2:01.9 | | 4. Christina Boxer | Great Britain | 2:02.1 | | 5. Mwinga Mwanjala |  Tanzania | 2:05.2 | | 6. Gita Zutshi |  India | 2:06.6 | | 7. Fantaye Sirak |  Ethiopia | 2:08.7 |
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| Heat 2 | time | | 1. Tatiana Providokhina | Soviet Union | 1:58.5 | | 2. Martina Kampfert | East Germany | 1:58.8 | | 3. Nikolina Shchereva | Bulgaria | 1:58.9 | | 4. Anna Bukis | Poland | 1:58.9 | | 5. Agnese Rossamai | Italy | 2:04.1 | | 6. Fatalmoudou Toure |  Mali | 2:19.8 | | -. Sakina Boutamine |  Algeria | DNS |
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| Heat 3 | time | | 1. Nadezhda Olizarenko | Soviet Union | 1:59.3 | | 2. Jolanta Januchta | Poland | 1:59.7 | | 3. Vesela Yatsinska | Bulgaria | 1:59.9 | | 4. Anne-Marie van Nuffel | Belgium | 2:00.1 | | 5. Daniela Porcelli | Italy | 2:10.7 | | 6. Albertine Raheliarisoa |  Madagascar | 2:11.7 | | 7. Margaret Morel |  Seychelles | 2:17.0 |
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| Heat 4 | time | | 1. Hildegard Ullrich | East Germany | 2:00.1 | | 2. Fisa Lovin | Romania | 2:00.2 | | 3. Totka Petrova | Bulgaria | 2:00.6 | | 4. Elzbieta Katolik | Poland | 2:01.2 | | 5. Lilian Nyiti | Tanzania | 2:11.1 | | 6. Hala el-Moughrabi |  Syria | 2:17.6 | | 7. Acacia Mate |  Mozambique | 2:19.7 | | 8. Eugenia Osho-Williams |  Siera Leone | 2:33.4 |
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