| Final 19:50 | time | | | 1. Robbie Brightwell |  GBR | 45.9s | CR | | 2. Manfred Kinder |  FRG | 46.1s | | | 3. Hans-Joachim Reske | FRG | 46.4s | | | 4. Adrian Metcalfe | GBR | 46.4s | | | 5. Barry Jackson | GBR | 46.6s | | | 6. Andrzej Badeński |  POL | 47.4s | |
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| History Men 400m | | World Record: O. Davies (USA), Kaufmann (GER) 44.9s | | European Record: Kaufmann (GER) 44.9s |
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| | | First 3 progress to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | | | 1. Robbie Brightwell | GBR | 46.4s | Q | | 2. Andrzej Badeński | POL | 46.5s | Q | | 3. Josef Trousil |  TCH | 46.6s | | | 4. Jacques Pennewaert |  BEL | 46.8s | | | 5. Sergio Bello |  ITA | 47.8s | | | 6. Viktor Bychkov |  URS | 48.3s | |
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| Semi 2 | time | | | 1. Hans-Joachim Reske | FRG | 46.1s | CR Q | | 2. Adrian Metcalfe | GBR | 46.2s | Q | | 3. Jerzy Kowalski | POL | 46.3s | | | 4. Vadim Arkhipchuk | URS | 46.7s | | | 5. Mario Fraschini | ITA | 47.0s | | | 6. Ronny Sunesson |  SWE | 47.4s | |
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| Semi 3 | time | | | 1. Manfred Kinder | FRG | 46.5s | Q | | 2. Barry Jackson | GBR | 46.5s | Q | | 3. Hans-Olof Johansson | SWE | 46.7s | | | 4. Hansrüdi Bruder |  SUI | 46.9s | | | 5. Vittorio Barberis | ITA | 47.9s | | | -. Jean Bertozzi |  FRA | DNS | |
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| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Josef Trousil | TCH | 48.3s | Q | | 2. Vittorio Barberis | ITA | 48.4s | Q | | 3. Jerzy Kowalski | POL | 49.8s | Q | | 4. Rudi Matt |  LIE | 50.5s | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Vadim Arkhipchuk | URS | 47.4s | Q | | 2. Jacques Pennewaert | BEL | 47.4s | Q | | 3. Sergio Bello | ITA | 47.6s | Q | | 4. Bengt-Göran Fernström | SWE | 47.7s | |
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| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Manfred Kinder | FRG | 47.1s | Q | | 2. Barry Jackson | GBR | 47.7s | Q | | 3. Viktor Bychkov | URS | 48.2s | Q | | 4. Vasilios Syllis |  GRE | 48.4s | |
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| Heat 4 | time | | | 1. Hans-Joachim Reske | FRG | 46.9s | Q | | 2. Andrzej Badeński | POL | 47.4s | Q | | 3. Jean Bertozzi | FRA | 47.6s | Q | | 4. Gürkan Çevik |  TUR | 50.0s | |
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| Heat 5 | time | | | 1. Robbie Brightwell | GBR | 46.6s | Q | | 2. Hans-Olof Johansson | SWE | 47.2s | Q | | 3. Mario Fraschini | ITA | 47.3s | Q | | 4. Miloje Grujić |  YUG | 47.5s | |
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| Heat 6 | time | | | 1. Hansrüdi Bruder | SUI | 47.5s | Q | | 2. Adrian Metcalfe | GBR | 47.6s | Q | | 3. Ronny Sunesson | SWE | 47.6s | Q | | 4. Miroslav Bosnar | YUG | 48.0s | |
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