| Final | time |  | 1. Jarmila Kratochvilova |  TCH | 1:54.68 |  | 2. Lyubov Gurina |  URS | 1:56.11 |  | 3. Yekaterina Podkopayeva |  URS | 1:57.58 |  | 4. Margrit Klinger |  FRG | 1:58.11 |  | 5. Robin Campbell |  USA | 2:00.03 |  | 6. Doina Melinte |  ROU | 2:00.13 |  | 7. Milena Matejkovicova-Strnadova |  TCH | 2:01.72 |  | 8. Antje Schroder |  GDR | 2:02.13 |   
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| Semi 1 | time |  | 1. Yekaterina Podkopayeva |  URS | 1:59.55 |  | 2. Jarmila Kratochvilova |  TCH | 1:59.58 |  | 3. Milena Matejkovicova-Strnadova |  TCH | 2:00.02 |  | 4. Robin Campbell |  USA | 2:00.22 |  | 5. Jolanta Januchta |  POL | 2:01.23 |  | 6. Jill McCabe |  SWE | 2:01.92 |  | 7. Elena Lina |  ROU | 2:03.59 |  | 8. Celestine N'Drin |  CIV | 2:08.14 |   
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| Semi 2 | time |  | 1. Lyubov Gurina |  URS | 1:59.33 |  | 2. Antje Schroder |  GDR | 1:59.46 |  | 3. Margrit Klinger |  FRG | 1:59.49 |  | 4. Doina Melinte |  ROU | 1:59.60 |  | 5. Zuzana Moravcikova |  TCH | 1:59.96 |  | 6. Totka Petrova |  BUL | 2:01.32 |  | 7. Tina Krebs |  DEN | 2:02.19 |  | 8. Jennifer Bean |  BER | 2:12.93 |   
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| Heat 1 | time |  | 1. Margrit Klinger |  FRG | 2:02.08 |  | 2. Jolanta Januchta |  POL | 2:02.58 |  | 3. Milena Matejkovicova-Strnadova |  TCH | 2:02.60 |  | 4. Elena Lina |  ROU | 2:04.50 |  | 5. Attina Sawtell |  CKI | 2:18.25 |  | 6. Kungu Bakombo |  COD | 2:19.68 |   
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| Heat 2 | time |  | 1. Yekaterina Podkopayeva |  URS | 2:06.42 |  | 2. Totka Petrova |  BUL | 2:06.60 |  | 3. Zuzana Moravcikova |  TCH | 2:06.76 |  | 4. Jill McCabe |  SWE | 2:07.23 |  | 5. Maria Lomba |  STP | 2:21.90 |  | -. Fatalmoudou Toure |  MLI | DQ |   
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| Heat 3 | time |  | 1. Antje Schroder |  GDR | 2:10.61 |  | 2. Jarmila Kratochvilova |  TCH | 2:12.35 |  | 3. Celestine N'Drin |  CIV | 2:12.52 |  | 4. Hala El Moughrabi |  SYR | 2:15.37 |  | 5. Eucaris Caicedo |  COL | 2:17.06 |  | 6. Sofiya Mohamed |  COM | 2:55.64 |  | -. Irina Podyalovskaya |  URS | DNS |   
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| Heat 4 | time |  | 1. Lyubov Gurina |  URS | 2:04.17 |  | 2. Doina Melinte |  ROU | 2:04.30 |  | 3. Robin Campbell |  USA | 2:04.83 |  | 4. Tina Krebs |  DEN | 2:05.49 |  | 5. Jennifer Bean |  BER | 2:13.80 |  | 6. Be Trinh Thi |  VIE | 2:17.54 |  | 7. Khadija Al Matari |  JOR | 2:28.72 |   
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