| Event: | Women's 800 metres |
| Competition: | European Athletics Championships |
The women's 800 metres at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Prague, then Czechoslovakia, at Stadion Evžena Rošického on 29, 30, and 31 August 1978.
| Gold | Tatyana Providokhina | |
| Silver | Nadezhda Mushta | |
| Bronze | Zoya Rigel |
31 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | align=left | 1:55.80 | CR | ||||
| align=left | align=left | 1:55.82 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | 1:56.57 | |||||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 1:56.59 | ||||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 1:57.45 | AJR | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | 1:57.71 | ||||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 1:58.62 | ||||
| 8 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:58.82 |
30 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 1:58.8 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 1:58.8 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 1:58.8 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 1:58.9 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:00.5 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 2:01.7 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:06.2 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:06.8 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 2:00.06 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 2:00.2 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 2:00.3 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 2:00.6 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 2:01.62 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:01.69 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | | 2:02.9 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 2:07.0 |
29 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 1:59.96 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 2:00.0 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 2:00.38 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 2:00.4 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 2:01.3 | Q | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 2:03.0 | q | ||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:09.0 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 2:01.39 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 2:01.6 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 2:01.8 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 2:02.3 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 2:02.9 | Q | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 2:03.7 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 2:03.9 | ||||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 2:04.0 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 2:01.67 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 2:01.8 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 2:02.0 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 2:02.1 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 2:02.2 | Q | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 2:04.5 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 2:04.7 |
According to an unofficial count, 22 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.
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