| Event: | Women's 400 metres |
| Games: | 1979 |
| Venue: | Estadio Sixto Escobar |
| Dates: | 11 & 12 July |
| Win Value: | 51.81 |
| Win Label: | Winning time |
| Gold: | Sharon Dabney |
| Goldnoc: | USA |
| Silver: | June Griffith |
| Silvernoc: | GUY |
| Bronze: | Patricia Jackson |
| Bronzenoc: | USA |
| Prev: | 1975 |
| Next: | 1983 |
The women's 400 metres sprint competition of the athletics events at the 1979 Pan American Games took place at the Estadio Sixto Escobar.[1] [2] The defending Pan American Games champion was Joyce Yakubowich of Canada.
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Pan American Games records were as follows:
| World record | 48.94 | Prague, Czechoslovakia | August 31, 1978 | ||
| Pan American Games record | 51.62 | Mexico City, Mexico | 1975 |
All times shown are in seconds.[3]
| KEY: | WR | World Record | GR | Pan American Record |
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 52.83 | Q | |||
| 2 | 2 | 52.91 | Q | |||
| 3 | 1 | 53.13 | Q | |||
| 4 | 2 | 53.37 | Q | |||
| 5 | 2 | 54.22 | Q | |||
| 6 | 2 | 54.90 | q | |||
| 7 | 1 | 54.95 | Q | |||
| 8 | 1 | 56.39 | q | |||
| 9 | 1 | 56.70 | ||||
| 10 | 2 | 57.12 | ||||
| 11 | 2 | 57.65 | ||||
| 12 | 2 | |||||
| 13 | 1 |
Held on 12 July
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon Dabney | 51.81 | ||||
| June Griffith | 51.81 | ||||
| Patricia Jackson | 52.32 | ||||
| 4 | Aurelia Pentón | 52.71 | |||
| 5 | Micheline Racette | 53.30 | |||
| 6 | Helen Blake | 53.41 | |||
| 7 | Marita Payne | 53.99 | |||
| 8 | Joece Felipe dos Santos | 56.49 |