| 1 | Petra Müller | GDR | 52,47 | Q |
| 2 | Tatyana Kocembova | TCH | 53,16 | q |
| 3 | Fabienne Lise | FRA | 54,97 |
| 1 | Sabine Busch | GDR | 54,03 | Q |
| 2 | Astrid Ortel | FRG | 54,21 | q |
| 3 | Erica Rossi | ITA | 54,25 | q |
| 4 | Semra Aksu | TUR | 56,13 |
| 1 | Ute Thimm | FRG | 54,86 | Q |
| 2 | Angela Piggford | GBR | 55,07 | |
| 3 | Pepa Pavlova | BUL | 55,34 | |
| Cristieana Matei | ROM | DNF |
| 1 | Ann-Louise Skoglund | SWE | 53,98 | Q |
| 2 | Gisela Kinzel | FRG | 54,08 | q |
| 3 | Cristina Perez | ESP | 54,70 | |
| 4 | Gerda Haas | AUT | 54,94 |