# Athletics at the 1989 Summer Universiade – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres event at the 1989 Summer Universiade was held at the Wedaustadion in Duisburg with the final on 26, 27, and 28 August 1989.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Roberto Hernández Cuba | Sérgio Menezes Brazil | Oliver Bridges United States |

## Results
### Heats

| Rank | Heat | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Roberto Hernández | Cuba | 46.00 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Felix Sandy | Sierra Leone | 46.18 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Sérgio Menezes | Brazil | 46.33 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Aivar Ojastu | Soviet Union | 46.36 | q |
| 5 | 3 | Howard Burnett | Jamaica | 46.41 | Q |
| 6 | 5 | Hachim Ndiaye | Senegal | 46.42 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Lázaro Martínez | Cuba | 46.59 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | Oliver Bridges | United States | 46.69 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | Devon Morris | Jamaica | 46.72 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Antonio Sánchez | Spain | 46.79 | q |
| 11 | 2 | Alessandro Pinna | Italy | 46.93 | Q |
| 12 | 2 | Arkadiy Kornilov | Soviet Union | 46.99 | Q |
| 13 | 4 | Junior de Lain | Netherlands | 47.02 | q |
| 14 | 5 | Thomas Koech | Kenya | 47.03 | q |
| 15 | 3 | Koichi Konakatomi | Japan | 47.05 | q |
| 16 | 1 | Raymundo Escalante | Mexico | 47.17 | q |
| 17 | 1 | Anselm Schuster | West Germany | 47.39 | |
| 18 | 2 | Marcello Pantone | Italy | 47.71 | |
| 19 | 1 | Moisés Fernández | Spain | 47.78 | |
| 19 | 5 | Richard Hill | Great Britain | 47.78 | |
| 21 | 1 | Josue Morales | Mexico | 47.80 | |
| 21 | 5 | Lee Bridges | United States | 47.80 | |
| 23 | 3 | Dávid Somfai | Hungary | 48.14 | |
| 24 | 1 | Daniel Mwihuri | Kenya | 48.26 | |
| 25 | 2 | Nicos Adamou | Cyprus | 48.47 | |
| 26 | 2 | Ali Faudet | Chad | 48.50 | |
| 27 | 4 | Paul Dennis | Great Britain | 48.56 | |
| 28 | 3 | Seiichi Ibe | Japan | 48.84 | |
| 29 | 4 | Lin Kuang-liang | Chinese Taipei | 48.89 | |
| 30 | 2 | Bernard Austin | Ghana | 49.85 | |
| 31 | 1 | Mohamed Mehdi Hasan | Bangladesh | 50.12 | |
| 32 | 3 | Wu Cheng-ho | Chinese Taipei | 50.77 | |
| 33 | 5 | Camera Ntereke | Botswana | 51.21 | |
| 34 | 2 | Lee Ka Kit | Hong Kong | 51.85 | |
| 35 | 4 | Wong Hung | Hong Kong | 53.36 | |
| 36 | 4 | Ndoluvualu Mukoko | Zaire | 1:04.01 | |
| | 5 | Francis Kpaka | Sierra Leone | DQ | |

### Semifinals

| Rank | Heat | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Roberto Hernández | Cuba | 45.53 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Lázaro Martínez | Cuba | 45.87 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Sérgio Menezes | Brazil | 46.03 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Howard Burnett | Jamaica | 46.03 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Felix Sandy | Sierra Leone | 46.20 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Oliver Bridges | United States | 46.31 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Devon Morris | Jamaica | 46.38 | q |
| 8 | 2 | Aivar Ojastu | Soviet Union | 46.63 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | Hachim Ndiaye | Senegal | 46.68 | |
| 10 | 1 | Antonio Sánchez | Spain | 46.83 | |
| 11 | 1 | Thomas Koech | Kenya | 47.02 | |
| 12 | 1 | Koichi Konakatomi | Japan | 47.08 | |
| 13 | 2 | Junior de Lain | Netherlands | 47.27 | |
| 14 | 1 | Arkadiy Kornilov | Soviet Union | 47.32 | |
| 15 | 2 | Alessandro Pinna | Italy | 47.60 | |
| 16 | 2 | Raymundo Escalante | Mexico | 47.92 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time |
| | Roberto Hernández | Cuba | 45.42 |
| | Sérgio Menezes | Brazil | 45.66 |
| | Oliver Bridges | United States | 45.78 |
| 4 | Lázaro Martínez | Cuba | 45.92 |
| 5 | Devon Morris | Jamaica | 46.30 |
| 6 | Aivar Ojastu | Soviet Union | 46.66 |
| 7 | Howard Burnett | Jamaica | 46.89 |
| | Felix Sandy | Sierra Leone | DNF |