# 1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Prague, then Czechoslovakia, at Stadion Evžena Rošického on 29 and 30 August 1978.

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 28 athletes from 15 countries participated in the event.
* Austria (1)
* Belgium (2)
* Bulgaria (3)
* Czechoslovakia (3)
* East Germany (2)
* France (2)
* Great Britain (1)
* Greece (1)
* Iceland (1)
* Italy (3)
* Poland (2)
* Soviet Union (3)
* Sweden (2)
* Switzerland (1)
* Yugoslavia (1)

## Results
### Heats

29 August

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Allan Wells | Great Britain | 10.40 | Q |
| 2 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 10.50 | Q |
| 3 | Joseph Arame | France | 10.59 | Q |
| 4 | Lambert Micha | Belgium | 10.63 | Q |
| 5 | Franco Fähndrich | Switzerland | 10.64 | |
| 6 | Ladislav Latocha | Czechoslovakia | 10.73 | |
| 7 | Ivaylo Karanyotov | Bulgaria | 10.78 | |
| | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 10.19 | CR, Q |
| 2 | Leszek Dunecki | Poland | 10.31 | Q |
| 3 | Vladimir Ignatenko | Soviet Union | 10.38 | Q |
| 4 | Dragan Zarić | Yugoslavia | 10.59 | Q |
| 5 | Ronald Desruelles | Belgium | 10.60 | |
| 6 | Stefan Nilsson | Sweden | 10.62 | |
| 7 | Otakar Wild | Czechoslovakia | 10.73 | |
| | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Eugen Ray | East Germany | 10.30 | Q |
| 2 | Marian Woronin | Poland | 10.50 | Q |
| 3 | Stefano Curini | Italy | 10.58 | Q |
| 4 | Kenth Rönn | Sweden | 10.58 | Q |
| 5 | Pierrick Thessard | France | 10.79 | |
| 6 | Gernot Massing | Austria | 10.86 | |
| 7 | Veselin Panov | Bulgaria | 10.90 | |
| | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Petar Petrov | Bulgaria | 10.44 | Q |
| 2 | Nikolay Kolesnikov | Soviet Union | 10.49 | Q |
| 3 | Lambros Kefalas | Greece | 10.53 | Q |
| 4 | Giovanni Grazioli | Italy | 10.55 | Q |
| 5 | Alexander Thieme | East Germany | 10.55 | |
| 6 | Zdeněk Mazur | Czechoslovakia | 10.73 | |
| 7 | Vilmundur Vilhjálmsson | Iceland | 10.76 | |
| | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

### Semi-finals

30 August

#### Semi-final 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 10.26 | Q |
| 2 | Vladimir Ignatenko | Soviet Union | 10.45 | Q |
| 3 | Petar Petrov | Bulgaria | 10.46 | Q |
| 4 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 10.53 | Q |
| 5 | Marian Woronin | Poland | 10.54 | |
| 6 | Kenth Rönn | Sweden | 10.63 | |
| 7 | Stefano Curini | Italy | 10.72 | |
| 8 | Lambert Micha | Belgium | 10.74 | |
| | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

#### Semi-final 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Eugen Ray | East Germany | 10.30 | Q |
| 2 | Leszek Dunecki | Poland | 10.38 | Q |
| 3 | Allan Wells | Great Britain | 10.38 | Q |
| 4 | Nikolay Kolesnikov | Soviet Union | 10.43 | Q |
| 5 | Giovanni Grazioli | Italy | 10.58 | |
| 6 | Lambros Kefalas | Greece | 10.60 | |
| 7 | Joseph Arame | France | 10.64 | |
| 8 | Dragan Zarić | Yugoslavia | 10.69 | |
| | | | Wind: -0.8 m/s | Wind: -0.8 m/s |

### Final

30 August
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 7 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 10.27 | |
| | 6 | Eugen Ray | East Germany | 10.36 | |
| | 1 | Vladimir Ignatenko | Soviet Union | 10.37 | |
| 4 | 4 | Petar Petrov | Bulgaria | 10.41 | |
| 5 | 8 | Leszek Dunecki | Poland | 10.43 | |
| 6 | 3 | Allan Wells | Great Britain | 10.45 | |
| 7 | 2 | Nikolay Kolesnikov | Soviet Union | 10.46 | |
| 8 | 5 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 10.55 | |
| | | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |