| POS | Rank | Heat | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2 | Mary Slaney |
USA |
4:07.47 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Zamira Zaytseva |
URS |
4:07.64 |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | Wendy Sly |
GBR |
4:08.16 |
| 4 | 4 | 2 | Cornelia Bürki |
SUI |
4:08.61 |
| 5 | 1 | 3 | Yekaterina Podkopayeva |
URS |
4:09.39 |
| 6 | 2 | 3 | Gabriella Dorio |
ITA |
4:09.45 |
| 7 | 3 | 3 | Doina Melinte |
ROU |
4:09.71 |
| 8 | 4 | 3 | Christina Boxer-Cahill |
GBR |
4:09.88 |
| 9 | 5 | 2 | Maria Radu |
ROU |
4:10.15 |
| 10 | 1 | 1 | Ravilya Agletdinova-Kotovich |
URS |
4:10.71 |
| 11 | 2 | 1 | Ivana Kubesova |
TCH |
4:10.82 |
| 12 | 3 | 1 | Brit Lind-Petersen-McRoberts |
CAN |
4:10.88 |
| 13 | 4 | 1 | Christiane Wartenberg |
GDR |
4:10.89 |
| 14 | 5 | 1 | Totka Petrova |
BUL |
4:12.31 |
| 15 | 5 | 3 | Betty Van Steenbroeck |
BEL |
4:12.93 |
| 16 | 6 | 1 | Cindy Bremser |
USA |
4:14.10 |
| 17 | 6 | 3 | Marjo-Riitta Lakka |
FIN |
4:22.33 |
| 18 | 6 | 2 | Marcianne Mukamurenzi |
RWA |
4:30.58 |
| 19 | 7 | 1 | Krisia L. GarcÃa |
ESA |
4:40.21 |
| 20 | 7 | 3 | Hala El Moughrabi |
SYR |
4:45.62 |
| 21 | 8 | 1 | Bigna Samuel |
VIN |
4:51.35 |
| 22 | 9 | 1 | Kungu Bakombo |
COD |
4:54.12 |
| 23 | 8 | 3 | Khadija Al Matari |
JOR |
5:01.83 |
| 24 | 7 | 2 | Vivian Pearson |
MAW |
5:03.70 |
| 2 | Aurora Cunha |
POR |
DNS | ||
| 3 | Brigitte Kraus |
FRG |
DNS |