# 1971 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres at the 1971 European Athletics Championships was held in Helsinki, Finland, at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 11, 12, and 13 August 1971.

## Medalists

| Gold | David Jenkins Great Britain |
| Silver | Marcello Fiasconaro Italy |
| Bronze | Jan Werner Poland |

## Results
### Final

13 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | David Jenkins | Great Britain | 45.45 | CR NR |
| | Marcello Fiasconaro | Italy | 45.49 | CR NR |
| | Jan Werner | Poland | 45.57 | |
| 4 | Markku Kukkoaho | Finland | 45.74 | NR |
| 5 | Thomas Jordan | West Germany | 46.01 | |
| 6 | Hermann Köhler | West Germany | 46.07 | |
| 7 | Aleksandr Bratchikov | Soviet Union | 46.40 | |
| 8 | Klaus Hauke | East Germany | 46.88 | |

### Semi-finals

12 August

#### Semi-final 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Thomas Jordan | West Germany | 46.29 | Q |
| 2 | Hermann Köhler | West Germany | 46.44 | Q |
| 3 | Marcello Fiasconaro | Italy | 46.44 | Q |
| 4 | Aleksandr Bratchikov | Soviet Union | 46.66 | Q |
| 5 | Andrzej Badeński | Poland | 46.80 | |
| 6 | Per Rom | Norway | 46.92 | |
| 7 | Miroslav Tulis | Czechoslovakia | 47.05 | |
| 8 | Michael Fredriksson | Sweden | 48.4 | |

#### Semi-final 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jan Werner | Poland | 46.11 | Q |
| 2 | David Jenkins | Great Britain | 46.22 | Q |
| 3 | Markku Kukkoaho | Finland | 46.25 | Q |
| 4 | Klaus Hauke | East Germany | 46.38 | Q |
| 5 | Martin Jellinghaus | West Germany | 46.78 | |
| 6 | Gilles Bertould | France | 47.23 | |
| 7 | Fanahan McSweeney | Ireland | 47.69 | |
| | Waldemar Korycki | Poland | DNS | |

### Heats

11 August

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jan Werner | Poland | 46.44 | Q |
| 2 | Marcello Fiasconaro | Italy | 46.49 | Q |
| 3 | Gilles Bertould | France | 46.81 | Q |
| 4 | Miroslav Tulis | Czechoslovakia | 46.83 | Q |
| 5 | Semyon Kocher | Soviet Union | 46.90 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | David Jenkins | Great Britain | 46.66 | Q |
| 2 | Andrzej Badeński | Poland | 46.68 | Q |
| 3 | Per Rom | Norway | 46.73 | Q |
| 4 | Hermann Köhler | West Germany | 46.77 | Q |
| 5 | Yevgeniy Borisenko | Soviet Union | 47.12 | |
| 6 | Christian Nicolau | France | 47.12 | |
| 6 | Miro Kocuvan | Yugoslavia | 47.63 | |
| 7 | Anders Faager | Sweden | 47.32 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Klaus Hauke | East Germany | 46.84 | Q |
| 2 | Martin Jellinghaus | West Germany | 46.96 | Q |
| 3 | Waldemar Korycki | Poland | 47.10 | Q |
| 4 | Michael Fredriksson | Sweden | 47.44 | Q |
| 5 | Giacomo Puosi | Italy | 47.63 | |
| 6 | Hugues Roger | France | 47.75 | |
| 7 | John Robertson | Great Britain | 48.20 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Markku Kukkoaho | Finland | 46.72 | Q |
| 2 | Thomas Jordan | West Germany | 46.98 | Q |
| 3 | Aleksandr Bratchikov | Soviet Union | 47.21 | Q |
| 4 | Fanahan McSweeney | Ireland | 47.34 | Q |
| 5 | René Bervoets | Belgium | 47.42 | |
| 6 | Martin Bilham | Great Britain | 48.13 | |

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 26 athletes from 14 countries participated in the event.
* Belgium (1)
* Czechoslovakia (1)
* East Germany (1)
* Finland (1)
* France (3)
* Ireland (1)
* Italy (2)
* Norway (1)
* Poland (3)
* Soviet Union (3)
* Sweden (2)
* Great Britain (3)
* West Germany (3)
* Yugoslavia (1)