# 1974 European Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres at the 1974 European Athletics Championships was held in Rome, Italy, at Stadio Olimpico on 2, 3, and 4 September 1974.

## Medalists

| Gold | Riitta Salin Finland |
| Silver | Ellen Streidt East Germany |
| Bronze | Rita Wilden West Germany |

## Results
### Final

4 September
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Riitta Salin | Finland | 50.14 | NR CR |
| | Ellen Streidt | East Germany | 50.69 | NR |
| | Rita Wilden | West Germany | 50.88 | NR |
| 4 | Nadezhda Ilyina | Soviet Union | 51.22 | NR |
| 5 | Angelika Handt | East Germany | 51.24 | |
| 6 | Karoline Käfer | Austria | 51.77 | NR |
| 7 | Verona Bernard | Great Britain | 52.61 | |
| 8 | Jelica Pavličić | Yugoslavia | 53.01 | |

### Semi-finals

3 September

#### Semi-final 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ellen Streidt | East Germany | 51.40 | CR Q |
| 2 | Rita Wilden | West Germany | 51.46 | Q |
| 3 | Nadezhda Ilyina | Soviet Union | 51.65 | Q |
| 4 | Jelica Pavličić | Yugoslavia | 51.87 | Q |
| 5 | Krystyna Kacperczyk | Poland | 52.07 | |
| 6 | Jannette Roscoe | Great Britain | 52.85 | |
| 7 | Rosine Wallez | Belgium | 53.02 | |
| 8 | Trudy Wunderink | Netherlands | 53.46 | |

#### Semi-final 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Riitta Salin | Finland | 51.46 | Q |
| 2 | Angelika Handt | East Germany | 51.67 | Q |
| 3 | Karoline Käfer | Austria | 52.14 | NR Q |
| 4 | Verona Bernard | Great Britain | 52.18 | Q |
| 5 | Ingrīda Barkāne | Soviet Union | 52.52 | |
| 6 | Danuta Piecyk | Poland | 52.93 | |
| 7 | Jozefína Čerchlanová | Czechoslovakia | 53.77 | |
| 8 | Natalya Sokolova | Soviet Union | 53.82 | |

### Heats

2 September

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Natalya Sokolova | Soviet Union | 53.21 | Q |
| 2 | Jozefína Čerchlanová | Czechoslovakia | 53.23 | Q |
| 3 | Danuta Piecyk | Poland | 53.30 | Q |
| 4 | Donna Hartley | Great Britain | 53.49 | |
| 5 | Dominique Forest | France | 55.35 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Riitta Salin | Finland | 51.88 | Q |
| 2 | Angelika Handt | East Germany | 52.21 | Q |
| 3 | Krystyna Kacperczyk | Poland | 52.76 | Q |
| 4 | Jannette Roscoe | Great Britain | 53.28 | q |
| 5 | Trudy Wunderink | Netherlands | 53.30 | q |
| 6 | Claire Walsh | Ireland | 54.15 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ellen Streidt | East Germany | 51.79 | Q |
| 2 | Rita Wilden | West Germany | 51.91 | Q |
| 3 | Karoline Käfer | Austria | 52.20 | Q |
| 4 | Rosine Wallez | Belgium | 52.82 | NR q |
| 5 | Ingrīda Barkāne | Soviet Union | 53.01 | q |
| 6 | Genowefa Błaszak | Poland | 53.34 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Nadezhda Ilyina | Soviet Union | 52.30 | Q |
| 2 | Verona Bernard | Great Britain | 52.46 | Q |
| 3 | Jelica Pavličić | Yugoslavia | 53.11 | Q |
| 4 | Pirjo Häggman | Finland | 53.43 | |
| 5 | Karola Claus | West Germany | 54.26 | |
| 6 | Iren Orosz | Hungary | 54.90 | |

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 23 athletes from 14 countries participated in the event.
* Austria (1)
* Belgium (1)
* Czechoslovakia (1)
* East Germany (2)
* Finland (2)
* France (1)
* Hungary (1)
* Ireland (1)
* Netherlands (1)
* Poland (3)
* Soviet Union (3)
* Great Britain (3)
* West Germany (2)
* Yugoslavia (1)