Heats

The winner of each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4	Karel Kolář	Czechoslovakia	46.47	Q
2	3	Nikolay Chernyetskiy	Soviet Union	46.85	Q
3	4	Remigijus Valiulis	Soviet Union	47.00	q
4	3	Horia Toboc	Romania	47.07	q
5	2	Stefano Malinverni	Italy	47.17	Q
6	1	Christer Gullstrand	Sweden	47.28	Q
7	4	Alfonso Di Guida	Italy	47.36	q
8	4	Peter Haas	Switzerland	47.59
9	2	Stavros Tziortzis	Greece	47.72
10	3	Vladimir Ivanov	Bulgaria	47.80
11	1	Benjamín González	Spain	47.94
12	2	Wolfgang Richter	West Germany	47.95
13	1	Rolf Gisler	Switzerland	47.99
14	5	Viktor Burakov	Soviet Union	48.03	Q
15	2	Stein-Are Agledal	Norway	48.14
16	5	József Szalai	Hungary	48.32
17	5	Ludger Zander	West Germany	48.80
18	1	Andreas Provelengios	Greece	48.95
	5	Urs Kamber	Switzerland	DQ

Semifinals

First 2 from each semifinal qualified directly (Q) for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Karel Kolář	Czechoslovakia	46.89	Q
2	2	Nikolay Chernyetskiy	Soviet Union	47.15	Q
3	1	Remigijus Valiulis	Soviet Union	47.17	Q
4	1	Viktor Burakov	Soviet Union	47.18
5	2	Horia Toboc	Romania	47.47	Q
6	2	Christer Gullstrand	Sweden	47.62
7	2	Alfonso Di Guida	Italy	47.97
	1	Stefano Malinverni	Italy	DNF

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Nikolay Chernyetskiy	Soviet Union	46.29
	Karel Kolář	Czechoslovakia	46.55
	Remigijus Valiulis	Soviet Union	46.75
4	Horia Toboc	Romania	46.95