| Final | time | | | 1. Gabriella Dorio |  Italy | 4:03.25 | | | 2. Doina Melinte |  Romania | 4:03.76 | | | 3. Maricica Puică | Romania | 4:04.15 | | | 4. Roswitha Gerdes |  West Germany | 4:04.41 | | | 5. Christine Benning |  Great Britain | 4:04.70 | | | 6. Christina Boxer | Great Britain | 4:05.53 | | | 7. Brit McRoberts |  Canada | 4:05.98 | | | 8. Ruth Wysocki |  United States | 4:08.32 | | | 9. Fiţa Lovin | Romania | 4:09.11 | | | 10.Debbie Scott | Canada | 4:10.41 | | | 11.Lynne MacDougall | Great Britain | 4:10.58 | | | 12.Elly van Hulst |  Netherlands | 4:11.58 | |
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| | | Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 100,000. 23 competitors from -- nations. |
| Round | H | Ath | date | | Heats | 2 | 23 | -1.08 |
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| | | First 5 from each Heat and Best 2 time advanced to Final. |
| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Christine Benning | Great Britain | 4:10.48 | Q | | 2. Doina Melinte | Romania | 4:10.48 | Q | | 3. Fiţa Lovin | Romania | 4:10.58 | Q | | 4. Roswitha Gerdes | West Germany | 4:10.64 | Q | | 5. Brit McRoberts | Canada | 4:10.64 | Q | | 6. Elly van Hulst | Netherlands | 4:10.69 | q | | 7. Missy Kane | United States | 4:11.86 | | | 8. Diana Richburg | United States | 4:13.35 | | | 9. Helen Ritter |  Liechtenstein | 4:19.39 | | | 10.Justina Chepchirchir |  Kenya | 4:21.97 | | | 11.Laverne Bryan |  Antigua Barbuda | 4:32.44 | | | 12.Kriscia Lorena García |  El Salvador | 4:38.00 | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Gabriella Dorio | Italy | 4:04.51 | Q | | 2. Maricica Puică | Romania | 4:05.30 | Q | | 3. Ruth Wysocki | United States | 4:06.65 | Q | | 4. Christina Boxer | Great Britain | 4:07.40 | Q | | 5. Lynne MacDougall | Great Britain | 4:09.08 | Q | | 6. Debbie Scott | Canada | 4:09.16 | q | | 7. Jill McCabe |  Sweden | 4:16.48 | | | 8. Alejandra Ramos |  Chile | 4:22.03 | | | 9. Liliana Góngora |  Argentina | 4:28.02 | | | 10.Mariciane Mukamurenzi |  Rwanda | 4:31.56 | | | -. Margrit Klinger | West Germany | DNS | |
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