| 1 | Karin Enke (A2) | GDR | 41.78 | OR, TR | - |
| 2 | Leah Poulos-Mueller (Senior) | USA | 42.26 | | +0.480 |
| 3 | Natalja Petrusjova (Senior) | URS | 42.42 | | +0.640 |
| 4 | Ann-Sofie Järnström (M30) | SWE | 42.47 | | +0.690 |
| 5 | Makiko Nagaya (Senior) | JPN | 42.70 | | +0.920 |
| 6 | Cornelia Jacob (Neo) | GDR | 42.98 | | +1.200 |
| 7 | Beth Heiden (Neo) | USA | 43.18 | | +1.400 |
| 8 | Tatjana Tarasova-Kovalenko (Neo) | URS | 43.26 | | +1.480 |
| 9 | Sylvia Burka (Senior) | CAN | 43.43 | | +1.650 |
| 10 | Irina Kovrova (A1) | URS | 43.50 | | +1.720 |
| 11 | Erwina Rys-Ferens (Senior) | POL | 43.52 | | +1.740 |
| 12 | Christa Rothenburger (Neo) | GDR | 43.60 | | +1.820 |
| 13 | Sylvia Brunner (Neo) | SUI | 43.72 | | +1.940 |
| 14 | Nam-Soon Lee (A2) | KOR | 43.85 | | +2.070 |
| 15 | Haitske Valentijn-Pijlman (Senior) | NED | 44.02 | | +2.240 |
| 16 | Sylvia Filipsson (Senior) | SWE | 44.05 | SB | +2.270 |
| 17 | Sigrid Smuda (Neo) | FRG | 44.11 | | +2.330 |
| 18 | Kathy Vogt (Neo) | CAN | 44.15 | | +2.370 |
| 19 | Sylvie Daigle (B2) | CAN | 44.16 | | +2.380 |
| 20 | Anneli Repola-Risku (Senior) | FIN | 44.33 | | +2.550 |
| 21 | Guifeng Cao (A2) | CHN | 44.43 | NRJ, NR | +2.650 |
| 22 | Annie Borckink (Senior) | NED | 44.47 | | +2.690 |
| 23 | Sarah Docter (B1) | USA | 44.48 | | +2.700 |
| 24 | Annette Karlsson (Neo) | SWE | 44.52 | | +2.740 |
| 25 | Monika Holzner-Pflug (Senior) | FRG | 44.59 | | +2.810 |
| 26 | Sijtje van der Lende (M30) | NED | 44.74 | | +2.960 |
| 27 | Guoqin Shen (A1) | CHN | 45.03 | SB | +3.250 |
| 28 | Brigitte Flierl (Neo) | FRG | 45.28 | | +3.500 |
| 29 | Limei Wang (A2) | CHN | 45.57 | SB | +3.790 |
| 30 | Kim Ferran (Neo) | GBR | 47.25 | | +5.470 |
| DNS | Marzia Peretti (C2) | ITA | DNS | | - |