# 1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Prague, then Czechoslovakia, at Stadion Evžena Rošického on 30 and 31 August, and 1 September 1978.

## Medalists

| Gold | Franz-Peter Hofmeister West Germany |
| Silver | Karel Kolář Czechoslovakia |
| Bronze | Francis Demarthon France |

## Results

1 September
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Franz-Peter Hofmeister | West Germany | 45.73 | |
| | Karel Kolář | Czechoslovakia | 45.77 | NR |
| | Francis Demarthon | France | 45.97 | |
| 4 | Lothar Krieg | West Germany | 46.22 | |
| 5 | Terry Whitehead | Great Britain | 46.23 | |
| 6 | Richard Ashton | Great Britain | 46.34 | |
| 7 | Bernd Herrmann | West Germany | 46.69 | |
| | Jerzy Pietrzyk | Poland | DNS | |

### Semi-finals

31 August

#### Semi-final 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jerzy Pietrzyk | Poland | 46.27 | Q |
| 2 | Karel Kolář | Czechoslovakia | 46.28 | Q |
| 3 | Lothar Krieg | West Germany | 46.33 | Q |
| 4 | Terry Whitehead | Great Britain | 46.69 | Q |
| 5 | Glen Cohen | Great Britain | 46.91 | |
| 6 | Eddy De Leeuw | Belgium | 47.17 | |
| 7 | Stefano Malinverni | Italy | 47.18 | |
| 8 | Maurice Volmar | France | 47.50 | |

#### Semi-final 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Bernd Herrmann | West Germany | 46.09 | Q |
| 2 | Franz-Peter Hofmeister | West Germany | 46.18 | Q |
| 3 | Francis Demarthon | France | 46.26 | Q |
| 4 | Richard Ashton | Great Britain | 46.32 | Q |
| 5 | Miroslav Tulis | Czechoslovakia | 46.37 | |
| 6 | Ryszard Podlas | Poland | 46.59 | |
| 7 | Viktor Burakov | Soviet Union | 46.91 | |
| 8 | Jens Hansen | Denmark | 47.35 | |

### Heats

30 August

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Karel Kolář | Czechoslovakia | 46.33 | Q |
| 2 | Jerzy Pietrzyk | Poland | 46.75 | Q |
| 3 | Viktor Burakov | Soviet Union | 47.18 | Q |
| 4 | Željko Knapić | Yugoslavia | 47.51 | |
| 5 | Ornélien Gombault | France | 47.91 | |
| 6 | Mike Bayle | Luxembourg | 48.71 | |
| 7 | Alfons Brijdenbach | Belgium | 53.05 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Franz-Peter Hofmeister | West Germany | 46.28 | Q |
| 2 | Richard Ashton | Great Britain | 46.63 | Q |
| 3 | Miroslav Tulis | Czechoslovakia | 46.77 | Q |
| 4 | Maurice Volmar | France | 46.94 | q |
| 5 | Eddy De Leeuw | Belgium | 47.27 | q |
| 6 | Koen Gijsbers | Netherlands | 47.65 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Lothar Krieg | West Germany | 46.57 | Q |
| 2 | Francis Demarthon | France | 46.73 | Q |
| 3 | Glen Cohen | Great Britain | 47.05 | Q |
| 4 | Jens Hansen | Denmark | 47.28 | q |
| 5 | Rijk Van den Berghe | Belgium | 47.55 | |
| 6 | Ossi Karttunen | Finland | 48.02 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Bernd Herrmann | West Germany | 46.50 | Q |
| 2 | Terry Whitehead | Great Britain | 46.61 | Q |
| 3 | Ryszard Podlas | Poland | 46.81 | Q |
| 4 | Stefano Malinverni | Italy | 47.03 | q |
| 5 | Markku Kukkoaho | Finland | 47.33 | |
| 6 | Frank Schaffer | East Germany | 47.59 | |

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 25 athletes from 14 countries participated in the event.
* Belgium (3)
* Czechoslovakia (2)
* Denmark (1)
* East Germany (1)
* Finland (2)
* France (3)
* Italy (1)
* Luxembourg (1)
* Netherlands (1)
* Poland (2)
* Soviet Union (1)
* Great Britain (3)
* West Germany (3)
* Yugoslavia (1)