| 1 | Dianne Holum (Neo) | USA | 2:20.85 | OR, TR | - |
| 2 | Stien Baas-Kaiser (Senior) | NED | 2:21.05 | | +0.200 |
| 3 | Atje Keulen-Deelstra (M30) | NED | 2:22.05 | | +1.200 |
| 4 | Elly van den Brom (Neo) | NED | 2:22.27 | | +1.420 |
| 5 | Rosemarie Taupadel (Neo) | GDR | 2:22.35 | NRJ, TRJ | +1.500 |
| 6 | Nina Statkevitsj (Senior) | URS | 2:23.19 | | +2.340 |
| 7 | Connie Carpenter (C2) | USA | 2:23.93 | NRJ | +3.080 |
| 8 | Sigrid Sundby-Dybedahl (Senior) | NOR | 2:24.07 | | +3.220 |
| 9 | Kapitolina Seregina (Senior) | URS | 2:24.29 | PB | +3.440 |
| 10 | Monika Pflug (A1) | FRG | 2:24.69 | | +3.840 |
| 11 | Satomi Koike (Neo) | JPN | 2:25.16 | | +4.310 |
| 12 | Bok-Soon Kim (Neo) | PRK | 2:25.48 | PB | +4.630 |
| 13 | Pil-Hwa Han (M30) | PRK | 2:25.64 | SB | +4.790 |
| 14 | Ljudmila Kiseljova-Savrulina (Neo) | URS | 2:25.85 | | +5.000 |
| 15 | Paula Dufter (Neo) | FRG | 2:26.00 | | +5.150 |
| 16 | Tuula Vilkas (Neo) | FIN | 2:27.09 | | +6.240 |
| 17 | Emiko Taguchi (Neo) | JPN | 2:28.19 | | +7.340 |
| 18 | Kaname Ide (Senior) | JPN | 2:28.34 | | +7.490 |
| 19 | Lisbeth Berg (Senior) | NOR | 2:28.36 | | +7.510 |
| 20 | Sylvia Filipsson (A2) | SWE | 2:29.38 | | +8.530 |
| 21 | Sylvia Burka (A1) | CAN | 2:29.60 | NRJ | +8.750 |
| 22 | Jeong-Hee Choi (Neo) | KOR | 2:29.79 | NR | +8.940 |
| 23 | Kirsti Biermann (Neo) | NOR | 2:29.94 | | +9.090 |
| 24 | Leah Poulos (Neo) | USA | 2:31.29 | | +10.440 |
| 25 | Ylva Hedlund (Neo) | SWE | 2:31.31 | | +10.460 |
| 26 | Ann-Sofie Järnström (Neo) | SWE | 2:31.53 | | +10.680 |
| 27 | Gayle Gordon (B1) | CAN | 2:31.86 | | +11.010 |
| 28 | Seon-Ok Jeon (Neo) | KOR | 2:32.06 | SB | +11.210 |
| 29 | Myung-Ja Kim (B2) | PRK | 2:32.55 | NRJ | +11.700 |
| 30 | Jennifer Jackson (Neo) | CAN | 2:35.22 | | +14.370 |
| 31 | Monika Stützle (A1) | FRG | 2:37.15 | | +16.300 |