1982 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 400 metres

First 2 of each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	52.54	Q
2	1	Ann-Louise Skoglund	Sweden	53.09	Q
3	1	Lyudmila Belova	Soviet Union	53.17	q
4	2	Taťána Kocembová	Czechoslovakia	53.55	Q
5	2	Verona Elder	Great Britain	53.56	Q
5	3	Gaby Bußmann	West Germany	53.56	Q
7	2	Mary Wagner	West Germany	53.94	q
8	3	Dagmar Rübsam	East Germany	53.94	Q
9	3	Yelena Korban	Soviet Union	54.14
10	1	Elke Decker	West Germany	54.37
11	2	Marie-Christine Champenois	France	55.01

First 2 from each semifinal qualified directly (Q) for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	51.90	Q
2	2	Taťána Kocembová	Czechoslovakia	52.43	Q
3	1	Dagmar Rübsam	East Germany	52.73	Q
4	2	Gaby Bußmann	West Germany	52.85	Q
5	2	Ann-Louise Skoglund	Sweden	52.85
6	1	Mary Wagner	West Germany	52.89
7	1	Verona Elder	Great Britain	53.00
8	2	Lyudmila Belova	Soviet Union	53.17