| 1 | Petra Müller | GDR | 51,40 | Q |
| 2 | Rossiza Stamenova | BUL | 52,12 | Q |
| 3 | Gisela Kinzel | FRG | 52,33 | Q |
| 4 | Erzsebet Szabo | HUN | 52,47 | |
| 5 | Fabienne Ficher | FRA | 53,17 | |
| 6 | Alena Parikova | TCH | 53,22 |
| 1 | Helga Arendt | FRG | 51,79 | Q |
| 2 | Dagmar Neubauer | GDR | 51,95 | Q |
| 3 | Sally Gunnell | GBR | 52,22 | Q |
| 4 | Marina Shmonina | URS | 52,48 | |
| 5 | Cristina Perez | ESP | 53,01 | |
| 6 | Judith Forgacs | HUN | 53,16 |