# 1971 European Athletics Championships – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres at the 1971 European Athletics Championships was held in Helsinki, Finland, at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 12 and 13 August 1971.

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 28 athletes from 18 countries participated in the event.
* Belgium (1)
* Czechoslovakia (3)
* Denmark (1)
* East Germany (2)
* Finland (1)
* France (3)
* Great Britain (1)
* Iceland (1)
* Italy (1)
* Poland (1)
* Romania (1)
* Soviet Union (3)
* Spain (2)
* Sweden (1)
* Switzerland (2)
* Turkey (1)
* West Germany (2)
* Yugoslavia (1)

## Results
### Heats

12 August

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Franz-Peter Hofmeister | West Germany | 20.92 | Q |
| 2 | Jörg Pfeifer | East Germany | 21.35 | Q |
| 3 | Zenon Nowosz | Poland | 21.47 | Q |
| 4 | Aleksey Chebykin | Soviet Union | 21.58 | Q |
| 5 | José Luis Sánchez Paraíso | Spain | 21.60 | |
| 6 | Ladislav Kříž | Czechoslovakia | 21.71 | |
| 7 | Bjarni Stefánsson | Iceland | 21.97 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Aleksandr Zhidkikh | Soviet Union | 21.35 | Q |
| 2 | Charles Ducasse | France | 21.40 | Q |
| 3 | Philippe Clerc | Switzerland | 21.53 | Q |
| 4 | Luděk Bohman | Czechoslovakia | 21.61 | Q |
| 5 | Jean-Pierre Borlée | Belgium | 21.68 | |
| 6 | Ertuğrul Oğulbolan | Turkey | 22.1 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gérard Fenouil | France | 21.14 | Q |
| 2 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 21.20 | Q |
| 3 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 21.32 | Q |
| 4 | Reto Diezi | Switzerland | 21.47 | Q |
| 5 | Karl Honz | West Germany | 21.52 | |
| 6 | Ossi Karttunen | Finland | 21.64 | |
| 7 | Predrag Križan | Yugoslavia | 21.87 | |
| 8 | Alexandru Munteanu | Romania | 22.11 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 21.16 | Q |
| 2 | Joseph Arame | France | 21.44 | Q |
| 3 | Jiří Kynos | Czechoslovakia | 21.54 | Q |
| 4 | Luis Sarría | Spain | 21.56 | Q |
| 5 | Søren Viggo Pedersen | Denmark | 21.69 | |
| 6 | Martin Reynolds | Great Britain | 21.71 | |
| 7 | Bo Söderberg | Sweden | 21.91 | |

### Semi-finals

12 August

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 20.86 | Q |
| 2 | Franz-Peter Hofmeister | West Germany | 20.93 | Q |
| 3 | Aleksandr Zhidkikh | Soviet Union | 21.04 | Q |
| 4 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 21.21 | Q |
| 5 | Luis Sarría | Spain | 21.35 | |
| 6 | Joseph Arame | France | 21.43 | |
| 7 | Reto Diezi | Switzerland | 21.53 | |
| 8 | Jiří Kynos | Czechoslovakia | 21.54 | |
| | | | Wind: -0.2 m/s | Wind: -0.2 m/s |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gérard Fenouil | France | 21.15 | Q |
| 2 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 21.23 | Q |
| 3 | Philippe Clerc | Switzerland | 21.25 | Q |
| 4 | Jörg Pfeifer | East Germany | 21.29 | Q |
| 5 | Luděk Bohman | Czechoslovakia | 21.37 | |
| 6 | Charles Ducasse | France | 21.40 | |
| 7 | Aleksey Chebykin | Soviet Union | 21.45 | |
| 8 | Zenon Nowosz | Poland | 21.56 | |

### Final

13 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 20.31 | CR |
| | Franz-Peter Hofmeister | West Germany | 20.71 | |
| | Jörg Pfeifer | East Germany | 20.73 | |
| 4 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 20.74 | |
| 5 | Philippe Clerc | Switzerland | 20.86 | |
| 6 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 20.88 | |
| 7 | Gérard Fenouil | France | 20.92 | |
| 8 | Aleksandr Zhidkikh | Soviet Union | 21.23 | |