| 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 |  | +1.500 | 
| 6 | Nina Statkevitsj  (Senior) | URS | 2:23.19 |  | +2.340 | 
| 7 | Connie Carpenter  (C2) | USA | 2:23.93 | NRJ, TRJ | +3.080 | 
| 8 | Sigrid Sundby-Dybedahl  (Senior) | NOR | 2:24.07 |  | +3.220 | 
| 9 | Kapitolina Seregina  (Senior) | URS | 2:24.29 |  | +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 | NRM | +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 |  | +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 |