# 1978 World Allround Speed Skating Championships for women

The 39th edition of the World Allround Speed Skating Championships 1978 took place on 4 and 5 March in Helsinki, at the Oulunkylä Ice Rink.
Title holder was Vera Bryndzei from the Soviet Union.

## Distance medalists

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 500m | Valentina Lalenkova | Tatyana Averina | Erwina Ryś-Ferens |
| 1500m | Tatyana Averina | Galina Stepanskaya | Sylvia Filipsson |
| 1000m | Tatyana Averina | Kim Kostron | Sylvia Burka |
| 3000m | Marion Dittmann | Galina Stepanskaya | Bjørg Eva Jensen |

## Classification

| Rank | Skater | Country | Points Samalog | 500m | 1500m | 1000m | 3000m |
| | Tatyana Averina | Soviet Union | 186.891 | 45.20 (2) | 2:21.44 | 1:29.56 | 4:58.59 (5) |
| | Galina Stepanskaya | Soviet Union | 187.218 | 45.45 (5) | 2:22.42 (2) | 1:30.50 (6) | 4:54.27 (2) |
| | Marion Dittmann | East Germany | 187.760 | 45.90 (12) | 2:22.95 (5) | 1:30.34 (4) | 4:54.24 |
| 4 | Bjørg Eva Jensen | Norway | 188.381 | 45.82 (10) | 2:24.20 (9) | 1:30.66 (7) | 4:54.99 (3) |
| 5 | Valentina Lalenkova | Soviet Union | 188.546 | 44.91 | 2:24.41 (11) | 1:30.34 (4) | 5:01.98 (9) |
| 6 | Sylvia Burka | Canada | 189.254 | 45.63 (6) | 2:23.41 (6) | 1:30.25 (3) | 5:04.18 (12) |
| 7 | Sylvia Filipsson | Sweden | 189.541 | 45.41 (4) | 2:22.81 (3) | 1:32.12 (20) | 5:02.81 (10) |
| 8 | Lisbeth Korsmo-Berg | Norway | 190.067 | 46.48 (22) | 2:23.87 (7) | 1:31.48 (12) | 4:59.35 (6) |
| 9 | Kim Kostron | United States | 190.098 | 45.67 (7) | 2:24.69 (12) | 1:29.99 (2) | 5:07.22 (15) |
| 10 | Beth Heiden | United States | 190.144 | 45.75 (9) | 2:25.03 (14) | 1:31.86 (17) | 5:00.73 (8) |
| 11 | Nancy Swider | United States | 190.333 | 46.82 (25) | 2:24.25 (10) | 1:31.86 (17) | 4:57.00 (4) |
| 12 | Sijtje van der Lende | Netherlands | 190.458 | 47.05 (26) | 2:22.87 (4) | 1:31.51 (13) | 5:00.18 (7) |
| 13 | Sophie Westenbroek | Netherlands | 190.518 | 45.99 (14) | 2:25.50 (15) | 1:31.04 (9) | 5:03.05 (11) |
| 14 | Vera Bryndzei | Soviet Union | 190.566 | 45.88 (11) | 2:24.80 (13) | 1:31.02 (8) | 5:05.46 (13) |
| 15 | Anna Lenner | Sweden | 191.094 | 46.27 (18) | 2:24.13 (8) | 1:31.33 (11) | 5:06.70 (14) |
| 16 | Kathy Vogt | Canada | 193.539 | 46.02 (15) | 2:25.97 (16) | 1:31.11 (10) | 5:19.85 (16) |
| NC17 | Erwina Ryś-Ferens | Poland | 139.818 | 45.37 (3) | 2:26.05 (17) | 1:31.53 (14) | – |
| NC18 | Ina Steenbruggen | Netherlands | 140.530 | 45.72 (8) | 2:26.31 (19) | 1:32.08 (19) | – |
| NC19 | Joke van Rijssel | Netherlands | 141.016 | 46.39 (20) | 2:26.21 (18) | 1:31.78 (16) | – |
| NC20 | Cindy Seikkula | United States | 141.088 | 46.15 (17) | 2:27.19 (22) | 1:31.75 (15) | – |
| NC21 | Pat Durnin | Canada | 141.726 | 45.91 (13) | 2:27.08 (21) | 1:33.58 (27) | – |
| NC22 | Yuko Yaegashi-Ota | Japan | 142.688 | 47.32 (29) | 2:26.59 (20) | 1:33.01 (22) | – |
| NC23 | Brenda Webster | Canada | 142.756 | 46.58 (24) | 2:28.73 (25) | 1:33.20 (23) | – |
| NC24 | Anna Lenner | Sweden | 143.066 | 46.08 (16) | 2:31.01 (29) | 1:33.30 (24) | – |
| NC25 | Tarja Rinne | Finland | 143.171 | 47.14 (27) | 2:28.04 (24) | 1:33.37 (25) | – |
| NC26 | Brigitte Flierl | West Germany | 143.230 | 46.27 (18) | 2:30.27 (26) | 1:33.74 (28) | – |
| NC27 | Paula-Irmeli Halonen | Finland | 143.251 | 46.42 (21) | 2:31.25 (30) | 1:32.83 (21) | – |
| NC28 | Ann-Sofie Järnström | Sweden | 143.511 | 46.50 (23) | 2:30.86 (28) | 1:33.45 (26) | – |
| NC29 | Dolores Lier | Switzerland | 144.635 | 48.01 (31) | 2:27.81 (23) | 1:34.71 (29) | – |
| NC30 | Etsuko Nakamichi | Japan | 145.691 | 47.85 (30) | 2:30.35 (27) | 1:35.45 (30) | – |
| NC31 | Chen Shuhua | China | 146.786 | 47.16 (28) | 2:31.70 (31) | 1:38.12 (31) | – |
Source: