| Venue: Empire Stadium, London. |
| Final | time | | +time | L | t.a. | Y | | 1. Fanny Blankers-Koen |  NED | 24.4s | OR | | 2 | 24.4 | 30 | | 2. Audrey Williamson |  GBR | 25.1s | | +0.80 | 5 | | 21 | | 4. Mickey Patterson |  USA | 25,2s | | +0.86 | 6 | | 21 | | 3. Shirley Strickland de la Hunty |  AUS | 25.3? | | +0.85 | 3 | | 23 | | 5. Margaret Walker | GBR | 25.6? | | +1.19 | 4 | | 23 | | 6. Daphne Robb-Hasenjäger |  RSA | 25.7? | | +1.25 | 1 | | 19 |
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| | | First 2 from each 2 semi-finals progress to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | | +time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Fanny Blankers-Koen | NED | 24.3s | OR | | 24.4 | 30 | | 2. Mickey Patterson | USA | 25.0s | | +0.62 | | 21 | | 3. Margaret Walker | GBR | 25.3s | | +1.02 | | 23 | | 4. Cynthia Thompson |  JAM | | | +1.27 | | 25 | | 5. Rosine Faugouin |  FRA | | | +1.33 | | 18 | | 6. Joyce King | AUS | | | +1.38 | | 27 | | 7. Phyllis Lightbourn-Jones |  BER | | | | | 19 |
| Semi 2 | time | +time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Shirley Strickland de la Hunty | AUS | 24.9ws | | 25.1w | 23 | | 1. Audrey Williamson | GBR | 24.9ws | +0.01 | | 21 | | 3. Daphne Robb-Hasenjäger | RSA | 25.1ws | +0.12 | | 19 | | 4. Sylvia Cheeseman | GBR | | +0.38 | | 19 | | 5. Nel Karelse | NED | | +0.58 | | 22 | | 6. Liliane Sprécher | FRA | | +0.62 | | 22 | | 7. Betty McKinnon | AUS | | +0.75 | | 23 |
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| Heat 1 | time | | t.a. | Y | | 1. Fanny Blankers-Koen | NED | 25.7s | OR | 25.9 | 30 | | 2. Liliane Sprécher | FRA | 26.0s | | | 22 | | 3. Mae Faggs | USA | 26.0s | | | 16 | | 4. Melânia Luz |  BRA | 26.6?s | | | 20 | | 5. Phyllis Edness | BER | | | | 18 |
| Heat 2 | time | | t.a. | Y | | 1. Cynthia Thompson | JAM | 25.6s | OR | 25.7 | 25 | | 2. Sylvia Cheeseman | GBR | 25.7s | | | 19 | | 3. Diane Foster |  CAN | 26.1s | | | 19 | | 4. Helena de Menezes | BRA | 27.7?s | | | 21 |
| Heat 3 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Joyce King | AUS | 25.9s | 26.1 | 27 | | 2. Phyllis Lightbourn-Jones | BER | 27.0s | | 19 | | 3. Lucila Pini | BRA | 27.6s | | 17 | | 4. Marie-Thérèse Renard |  BEL | 28.5?s | | 23 | | -. Olga Šicnerová |  TCH | DNF | | 20 |
| Heat 4 | time | | t.a. | Y | | 1. Daphne Robb-Hasenjäger | RSA | 25.3s | OR | 25.5 | 19 | | 2. Shirley Strickland de la Hunty | AUS | 25.8s | | | 23 | | 3. Nell Jackson | USA | 25.8s | | | 19 | | 4. Donna Gilmore | CAN | | | | | | 5. Alma Butia |  YUG | | | | 19 |
| Heat 5 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Mickey Patterson | USA | 25.5ws | 25.9w | 21 | | 2. Margaret Walker | GBR | 25.8ws | | 23 | | 3. Kathleen Russell | JAM | 26.3ws | | 20 | | 4. Ann-Britt Leyman |  SWE | 26.3?s | | 26 | | 5. Tilly Decker |  LUX | &s | | 18 | | 6. Betty Kretschmer |  CHI | &s | | 20 |
| Heat 6 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Betty McKinnon | AUS | 25.9s | 26.1 | 23 | | 2. Rosine Faugouin | FRA | 25.9s | | 18 | | 3. Gré de Jongh | NED | 26.2s | | 23 | | 4. Grete Pavlousek |  AUT | | | 24 |
| Heat 7 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Audrey Williamson | GBR | 25.4s | 25.6 | 21 | | 2. Nel Karelse | NED | 26.0s | | 22 | | 3. Millie Cheater | CAN | 26.4s | | 20 | | -. Annegret Weller-Schneider | CHI | DQ | | 18 |
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