Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres
These are the official results of the Women's 400 metres event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 2 & 7 of September. The favorite coming into the Olympics was Monika Zehrt of East Germany who equaled the world record in the previous July. The other world record holder was Marilyn Neufville of Jamaica, who was also favored to win, but was injured and unable to compete. This left the field open to challenge the world record holder for the top prize.Heats
The top four runners in each heat and the next four fastest, advanced to the quarterfinal round.| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charlene Rendina | | 7 | 51.94 | OR |
| 2 | Rita Wilden | | 4 | 51.97 | |
| 3 | Mable Fergerson | | 1 | 52.05 | |
| 4 | Judith Ayaa | | 2 | 52.85 | |
| 5 | Karoline Käfer | | 3 | 53.60 | |
| 6 | Asunción Acosta | | 5 | 54.52 | |
| 7 | Barbara Bishop | | 6 | 56.35 | |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Kathy Hammond | | 1 | 53.45 |
| 2 | Jannette Roscoe | | 7 | 53.67 |
| 3 | Marika Eklund | | 3 | 53.81 |
| 4 | Natalya Pechonkina | | 2 | 53.81 |
| 5 | Krystyna Kacperczyk | | 4 | 53.85 |
| 6 | Junaidah Aman | | 5 | 57.36 |
| - | Christiane Casapicola | | 6 | DNS |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Monika Zehrt | | 3 | 52.49 |
| 2 | Mona-Lisa Strandvall | | 5 | 52.85 |
| 3 | Trudy Ruth | | 2 | 53.16 |
| 4 | Tekla Chemabwai | | 4 | 53.38 |
| 5 | Debra Edwards | | 1 | 54.43 |
| 6 | Maria Sykora | | 7 | 54.46 |
| 7 | Josefa Vicent | | 6 | 55.33 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Nicole Duclos | | 4 | 52.69 |
| 2 | Györgyi Balogh | | 7 | 52.75 |
| 3 | Nadezhda Kolesnikova | | 2 | 53.20 |
| 4 | Karin Wallgren | | 5 | 53.70 |
| 5 | Bożena Zientarska | | 3 | 54.20 |
| 6 | Ruth Williams | | 6 | 55.72 |
| 7 | Aida Mantawel | | 1 | 57.91 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Yvonne Saunders | | 1 | 52.38 |
| 2 | Helga Seidler | | 6 | 52.79 |
| 3 | Colette Besson | | 5 | 53.41 |
| 4 | Allison Ross-Edwards | | 4 | 53.48 |
| 5 | Donata Govoni | | 2 | 53.98 |
| 6 | Irén Orosz | | 3 | 54.83 |
| 7 | Arda Kalpakian | | 7 | 1:05.18 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Christel Frese | | 5 | 52.89 |
| 2 | Dagmar Käsling | | 6 | 52.99 |
| 3 | Aurelia Pentón | | 2 | 53.25 |
| 4 | Olga Syrovatskaya | | 7 | 53.62 |
| 5 | Janet Simpson | | 8 | 54.13 |
| 6 | Joyce Sadowick | | 3 | 54.59 |
| 7 | Elsy Rivas | | 1 | 56.33 |
| 8 | Kamaljit Sandhu | | 4 | 57.74 |
Heat 7
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Carmen Trustée | | 7 | 52.80 |
| 2 | Penny Hunt | | 5 | 52.82 |
| 3 | Danuta Piecyk | | 6 | 53.08 |
| 4 | Verona Bernard | | 4 | 53.31 |
| 5 | Anette Rückes | | 3 | 53.92 |
| 6 | Vreni Leiser | | 1 | 54.65 |
| 7 | Grace Muneene | | 2 | 57.71 |
Quarterfinals
The top four runners in each heat advanced to the semifinal round.Quarterfinal 1
Quarterfinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Yvonne Saunders | | 8 | 52.13 |
| 2 | Monika Zehrt | | 2 | 52.33 |
| 3 | Judith Ayaa | | 7 | 52.68 |
| 4 | Christel Frese | | 1 | 53.01 |
| 5 | Colette Besson | | 3 | 53.39 |
| 6 | Marika Eklund | | 6 | 53.50 |
| 7 | Tekla Chemabwai | | 5 | 53.54 |
| 8 | Natalya Pechonkina | | 4 | 54.58 |
Quarterfinal 3
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Györgyi Balogh | | 2 | 51.71 | OR |
| 2 | Rita Wilden | | 8 | 51.91 | |
| 3 | Aurelia Pentón | | 6 | 52.02 | |
| 4 | Kathy Hammond | | 5 | 52.44 | |
| 5 | Danuta Piecyk | | 4 | 52.62 | |
| 6 | Penny Hunt | | 1 | 52.66 | |
| 7 | Olga Syrovatskaya | | 7 | 53.42 | |
| 8 | Donata Govoni | | 3 | 53.78 | |
Quarterfinal 4
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Dagmar Käsling | | 1 | 52.33 |
| 2 | Mona-Lisa Strandvall | | 3 | 52.53 |
| 3 | Mable Fergerson | | 7 | 52.93 |
| 4 | Nicole Duclos | | 8 | 52.96 |
| 5 | Verona Bernard | | 2 | 53.29 |
| 6 | Allison Ross-Edwards | | 5 | 53.60 |
| 7 | Karin Wallgren | | 6 | 53.87 |
| 8 | Krystyna Kacperczyk | | 4 | 54.39 |
Semifinals
Top four in each heat advanced to the final round.Semifinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Helga Seidler | | 4 | 51.68 | OR |
| 2 | Dagmar Käsling | | 8 | 51.73 | |
| 3 | Györgyi Balogh | | 5 | 51.90 | |
| 4 | Kathy Hammond | | 1 | 51.92 | |
| 5 | Aurelia Pentón | | 6 | 52.15 | |
| 6 | Mona-Lisa Strandvall | | 7 | 52.23 | |
| 7 | Judith Ayaa | | 2 | 52.91 | |
| - | Christel Frese | | 3 | DNF | |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Lane | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Monika Zehrt | | 5 | 51.47 | OR |
| 2 | Rita Wilden | | 3 | 51.76 | |
| 3 | Charlene Rendina | | 8 | 51.90 | |
| 4 | Mable Fergerson | | 6 | 51.91 | |
| 5 | Yvonne Saunders | | 2 | 51.93 | |
| 6 | Nicole Duclos | | 4 | 52.18 | |
| 7 | Nadezhda Kolesnikova | | 7 | 52.29 | |
| 8 | Trudy Ruth | | 1 | 53.02 | |
Final
Key: OR = Olympic record; DNS = did not start; DNF = did not finish
