# 1971 European Athletics Championships – Men's 100 metres

The men's 100 metres at the 1971 European Athletics Championships was held in Helsinki, Finland, at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on 10 and 11 August 1971.
The winning margin was 0.22 seconds which with the conclusion of the 2024 championships remains the only time the men's 100 metres has been won by more than 0.2 seconds at these championships.

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 29 athletes from 18 countries participated in the event.
* Czechoslovakia (3)
* Denmark (1)
* East Germany (3)
* Finland (1)
* France (3)
* Greece (1)
* Iceland (1)
* Italy (1)
* Norway (1)
* Poland (3)
* Romania (1)
* Soviet Union (2)
* Spain (1)
* Sweden (1)
* Switzerland (1)
* Turkey (1)
* Great Britain (1)
* West Germany (3)

## Results
### Heats

10 August

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Dominique Chauvelot | France | 10.57 | Q |
| 2 | Zenon Nowosz | Poland | 10.62 | Q |
| 3 | Karl-Heinz Klotz | West Germany | 10.75 | Q |
| 4 | Raimo Vilén | Finland | 10.84 | Q |
| 5 | Thorsten Johansson | Sweden | 10.95 | |
| 6 | Ole Egil Reitan | Norway | 11.14 | |
| | | | Wind: -1.6 m/s | Wind: -1.6 m/s |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 10.56 | Q |
| 2 | Hans-Jürgen Bombach | East Germany | 10.75 | Q |
| 3 | Eckart Brieger | West Germany | 10.77 | Q |
| 4 | Norberto Oliosi | Italy | 10.82 | Q |
| 5 | José Luis Sánchez Paraíso | Spain | 10.87 | |
| 6 | Petr Utekal | Czechoslovakia | 10.98 | |
| 7 | Alexandru Munteaunu | Romania | 10.99 | |
| 8 | Ertün Erdöl | Turkey | 11.22 | |
| | | | Wind: -1.3 m/s | Wind: -1.3 m/s |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gerhard Wucherer | West Germany | 10.33 | CR, Q |
| 2 | Gilles Échevin | France | 10.44 | Q |
| 3 | Aleksandr Kornelyuk | Soviet Union | 10.44 | Q |
| 4 | Brian Green | Great Britain | 10.45 | Q |
| 5 | Wiesław Maniak | Poland | 10.74 | |
| 6 | Juraj Demeč | Czechoslovakia | 10.77 | |
| 7 | Manfred Kokot | East Germany | 10.78 | |
| 8 | Bjarni Stefánsson | Iceland | 11.00 | |
| | | | Wind: -0.2 m/s | Wind: -0.2 m/s |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Vasilios Papageorgopoulos | Greece | 10.46 | Q |
| 2 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 10.56 | Q |
| 3 | Luděk Bohman | Czechoslovakia | 10.69 | Q |
| 4 | Philippe Clerc | Switzerland | 10.73 | Q |
| 5 | Tadeusz Cuch | Poland | 10.75 | |
| 6 | Søren Viggo Pedersen | Denmark | 10.83 | |
| 7 | René Metz | France | 11.27 | |
| | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

### Semi-finals

11 August

#### Semi-final 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gilles Échevin | France | 10.44 | Q |
| 2 | Vasilios Papageorgopoulos | Greece | 10.51 | Q |
| 3 | Aleksandr Kornelyuk | Soviet Union | 10.52 | Q |
| 4 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 10.54 | Q |
| 5 | Norberto Oliosi | Italy | 10.68 | |
| 6 | Karl-Heinz Klotz | West Germany | 10.69 | |
| 7 | Philippe Clerc | Switzerland | 10.70 | |
| | Raimo Vilén | Finland | DNS | |
| | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

#### Semi-final 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 10.36 | Q |
| 2 | Gerhard Wucherer | West Germany | 10.44 | Q |
| 3 | Zenon Nowosz | Poland | 10.59 | Q |
| 4 | Dominique Chauvelot | France | 10.60 | Q |
| 5 | Brian Green | Great Britain | 10.62 | |
| 6 | Hans-Jürgen Bombach | East Germany | 10.75 | |
| 7 | Eckart Brieger | West Germany | 10.77 | |
| 8 | Luděk Bohman | Czechoslovakia | 10.84 | |
| | | | Wind: 0.0 m/s | Wind: 0.0 m/s |

### Final

11 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 10.27 | CR |
| | Gerhard Wucherer | West Germany | 10.49 | |
| | Vasilios Papageorgopoulos | Greece | 10.56 | |
| 4 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 10.63 | |
| 5 | Zenon Nowosz | Poland | 10.66 | |
| 6 | Aleksandr Kornelyuk | Soviet Union | 10.66 | |
| 7 | Dominique Chauvelot | France | 10.67 | |
| 8 | Gilles Échevin | France | 11.4 | |
| | | | Wind: -1.3 m/s | Wind: -1.3 m/s |