1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Prague, then Czechoslovakia, at Stadion Evžena Rošického on 30 and 31 August, and 1 September 1978.

Medalists

Gold	Franz-Peter Hofmeister West Germany
Silver	Karel Kolář Czechoslovakia
Bronze	Francis Demarthon France

Results

1 September

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Franz-Peter Hofmeister	West Germany	45.73
	Karel Kolář	Czechoslovakia	45.77	NR
	Francis Demarthon	France	45.97
4	Lothar Krieg	West Germany	46.22
5	Terry Whitehead	Great Britain	46.23
6	Richard Ashton	Great Britain	46.34
7	Bernd Herrmann	West Germany	46.69
	Jerzy Pietrzyk	Poland	DNS

Semi-finals

31 August

Semi-final 1

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Jerzy Pietrzyk	Poland	46.27	Q
2	Karel Kolář	Czechoslovakia	46.28	Q
3	Lothar Krieg	West Germany	46.33	Q
4	Terry Whitehead	Great Britain	46.69	Q
5	Glen Cohen	Great Britain	46.91
6	Eddy De Leeuw	Belgium	47.17
7	Stefano Malinverni	Italy	47.18
8	Maurice Volmar	France	47.50

Semi-final 2

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Bernd Herrmann	West Germany	46.09	Q
2	Franz-Peter Hofmeister	West Germany	46.18	Q
3	Francis Demarthon	France	46.26	Q
4	Richard Ashton	Great Britain	46.32	Q
5	Miroslav Tulis	Czechoslovakia	46.37
6	Ryszard Podlas	Poland	46.59
7	Viktor Burakov	Soviet Union	46.91
8	Jens Hansen	Denmark	47.35

Heats

30 August

Heat 1

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Karel Kolář	Czechoslovakia	46.33	Q
2	Jerzy Pietrzyk	Poland	46.75	Q
3	Viktor Burakov	Soviet Union	47.18	Q
4	Željko Knapić	Yugoslavia	47.51
5	Ornélien Gombault	France	47.91
6	Mike Bayle	Luxembourg	48.71
7	Alfons Brijdenbach	Belgium	53.05

Heat 2

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Franz-Peter Hofmeister	West Germany	46.28	Q
2	Richard Ashton	Great Britain	46.63	Q
3	Miroslav Tulis	Czechoslovakia	46.77	Q
4	Maurice Volmar	France	46.94	q
5	Eddy De Leeuw	Belgium	47.27	q
6	Koen Gijsbers	Netherlands	47.65

Heat 3

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Lothar Krieg	West Germany	46.57	Q
2	Francis Demarthon	France	46.73	Q
3	Glen Cohen	Great Britain	47.05	Q
4	Jens Hansen	Denmark	47.28	q
5	Rijk Van den Berghe	Belgium	47.55
6	Ossi Karttunen	Finland	48.02

Heat 4

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Bernd Herrmann	West Germany	46.50	Q
2	Terry Whitehead	Great Britain	46.61	Q
3	Ryszard Podlas	Poland	46.81	Q
4	Stefano Malinverni	Italy	47.03	q
5	Markku Kukkoaho	Finland	47.33
6	Frank Schaffer	East Germany	47.59

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 25 athletes from 14 countries participated in the event.

• Belgium (3)
• Czechoslovakia (2)
• Denmark (1)
• East Germany (1)
• Finland (2)
• France (3)
• Italy (1)
• Luxembourg (1)
• Netherlands (1)
• Poland (2)
• Soviet Union (1)
• Great Britain (3)
• West Germany (3)
• Yugoslavia (1)