# 1978 European Athletics Championships – Women's 800 metres

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.

## Medalists

| Gold | Tatyana Providokhina Soviet Union |
| Silver | Nadezhda Mushta Soviet Union |
| Bronze | Zoya Rigel Soviet Union |

## Results
### Final

31 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Tatyana Providokhina | Soviet Union | 1:55.80 | CR |
| | Nadezhda Mushta | Soviet Union | 1:55.82 | |
| | Zoya Rigel | Soviet Union | 1:56.57 | |
| 4 | Totka Petrova | Bulgaria | 1:56.59 | |
| 5 | Hildegard Ullrich | East Germany | 1:57.45 | AJR |
| 6 | Anita Weiß | East Germany | 1:57.71 | |
| 7 | Ulrike Bruns | East Germany | 1:58.62 | |
| 8 | Fiţa Lovin | Romania | 1:58.82 | |

### Semi-finals

30 August

#### Semi-final 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Anita Weiß | East Germany | 1:58.8 | Q |
| 2 | Nadezhda Mushta | Soviet Union | 1:58.8 | Q |
| 3 | Fiţa Lovin | Romania | 1:58.8 | Q |
| 4 | Zoya Rigel | Soviet Union | 1:58.9 | Q |
| 5 | Gabriella Dorio | Italy | 2:00.5 | |
| 6 | Elena Tarita | Romania | 2:01.7 | |
| 7 | Anne-Marie Van Nuffel | Belgium | 2:06.2 | |
| 8 | Irén Lipcsei | Hungary | 2:06.8 | |

#### Semi-final 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Tatyana Providokhina | Soviet Union | 2:00.06 | Q |
| 2 | Totka Petrova | Bulgaria | 2:00.2 | Q |
| 3 | Ulrike Bruns | East Germany | 2:00.3 | Q |
| 4 | Hildegard Ullrich | East Germany | 2:00.6 | Q |
| 5 | Mariana Suman | Romania | 2:01.62 | |
| 6 | Liz Barnes | Great Britain | 2:01.69 | |
| 7 | Jane Colebrook | Great Britain | 2:02.9 | |
| 8 | Jozefína Čerchlanová | Czechoslovakia | 2:07.0 | |

### Heats

29 August

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Tatyana Providokhina | Soviet Union | 1:59.96 | Q |
| 2 | Fiţa Lovin | Romania | 2:00.0 | Q |
| 3 | Ulrike Bruns | East Germany | 2:00.38 | Q |
| 4 | Gabriella Dorio | Italy | 2:00.4 | Q |
| 5 | Anne-Marie Van Nuffel | Belgium | 2:01.3 | Q |
| 6 | Jane Colebrook | Great Britain | 2:03.0 | q |
| 7 | Maria Ritter | Liechtenstein | 2:09.0 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Hildegard Ullrich | East Germany | 2:01.39 | Q |
| 2 | Zoya Rigel | Soviet Union | 2:01.6 | Q |
| 3 | Totka Petrova | Bulgaria | 2:01.8 | Q |
| 4 | Irén Lipcsei | Hungary | 2:02.3 | Q |
| 5 | Elena Tarita | Romania | 2:02.9 | Q |
| 6 | Janet Prictoe | Great Britain | 2:03.7 | |
| 7 | Elly van Hulst | Netherlands | 2:03.9 | |
| 8 | Jindřiška Kubečková | Czechoslovakia | 2:04.0 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Nadezhda Mushta | Soviet Union | 2:01.67 | Q |
| 2 | Anita Weiß | East Germany | 2:01.8 | Q |
| 3 | Jozefína Čerchlanová | Czechoslovakia | 2:02.0 | Q |
| 4 | Liz Barnes | Great Britain | 2:02.1 | Q |
| 5 | Mariana Suman | Romania | 2:02.2 | Q |
| 6 | Marie-Rose Verhoeven | Belgium | 2:04.5 | |
| 7 | Fernande Schmitt | Luxembourg | 2:04.7 | |

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 22 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.
* Belgium (2)
* Bulgaria (1)
* Czechoslovakia (2)
* East Germany (3)
* Hungary (1)
* Italy (1)
* Liechtenstein (1)
* Luxembourg (1)
* Netherlands (1)
* Romania (3)
* Soviet Union (3)
* Great Britain (3)