# 1954 European Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres at the 1954 European Athletics Championships was held in Bern, Switzerland, at Stadion Neufeld on 25, 26, and 27 August 1954.

## Medalists

| Gold | Ardalion Ignatyev Soviet Union |
| Silver | Voitto Hellstén Finland |
| Bronze | Zoltán Adamik Hungary |

## Results
### Final

27 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Ardalion Ignatyev | Soviet Union | 46.6 | CR NR |
| | Voitto Hellstén | Finland | 47.0 | NR |
| | Zoltán Adamik | Hungary | 47.6 | NR |
| 4 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | West Germany | 47.6 | |
| 5 | Jean-Jacques Hegg | Switzerland | 47.8 | |
| | Jacques Degats | France | DQ | |

### Semi-finals

26 August

#### Semi-final 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ardalion Ignatyev | Soviet Union | 47.0 | CR Q |
| 2 | Voitto Hellstén | Finland | 47.1 | NR Q |
| 3 | Jacques Degats | France | 47.8 | Q |
| 4 | Vincenzo Lombardo | Italy | 48.4 | |
| 5 | Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt | Sweden | 48.8 | |
| | Hans Geister | West Germany | DQ | |

#### Semi-final 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | West Germany | 47.9 | Q |
| 2 | Zoltán Adamik | Hungary | 48.1 | Q |
| 3 | Jean-Jacques Hegg | Switzerland | 48.1 | Q |
| 4 | Jean-Paul Martin-du-Gard | France | 48.2 | |
| 5 | Alan Dick | Great Britain | 48.3 | |
| 6 | Rolf Back | Finland | 48.9 | |

### Heats

25 August

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ardalion Ignatyev | Soviet Union | 47.9 | Q |
| 2 | Vincenzo Lombardo | Italy | 48.2 | Q |
| 3 | Gerard Mach | Poland | 48.9 | |
| 4 | José Fórmiga | Spain | 50.3 | |
| 5 | Gerald Wicher | Austria | 51.8 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Hans Geister | West Germany | 47.9 | Q |
| 2 | Rolf Back | Finland | 48.4 | Q |
| 3 | Edmunds Pīlāgs | Soviet Union | 48.8 | |
| 4 | Charles Cuvelier | Belgium | 50.3 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Voitto Hellstén | Finland | 47.7 | Q |
| 2 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | West Germany | 47.8 | Q |
| 3 | Peter Fryer | Great Britain | 48.0 | |
| 4 | Rudolf Haidegger | Austria | 51.4 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jean-Paul Martin-du-Gard | France | 48.4 | Q |
| 2 | Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt | Sweden | 48.7 | Q |
| 3 | Vasilios Sillis | Greece | 48.8 | |
| 4 | Lech Sierek | Poland | 49.6 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Zoltán Adamik | Hungary | 47.9 | Q |
| 2 | Alan Dick | Great Britain | 48.4 | Q |
| 3 | Gösta Brännström | Sweden | 48.7 | |
| 4 | René Weber | Switzerland | 49.3 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jean-Jacques Hegg | Switzerland | 47.7 | Q |
| 2 | Jacques Degats | France | 48.5 | Q |
| 3 | Marcello Dani | Italy | 49.1 | |
| 4 | Egon Solymossy | Hungary | 49.4 | |

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 25 athletes from 14 countries participated in the event.
* Austria (2)
* Belgium (1)
* Finland (2)
* France (2)
* Greece (1)
* Hungary (2)
* Italy (2)
* Poland (2)
* Soviet Union (2)
* Spain (1)
* Sweden (2)
* Switzerland (2)
* Great Britain (2)
* West Germany (2)