Heats

The winner of each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	3	Aleksandr Yevgenyev	Soviet Union	21.35	Q
2	2	Ade Mafe	Great Britain	21.63	Q
3	4	Giovanni Bongiorni	Italy	21.64	Q
4	4	Roland Jokl	Austria	21.66	q
5	4	Luboš Balošák	Czechoslovakia	21.68	q
6	2	Stefano Tilli	Italy	21.81	q
7	1	Carlo Simionato	Italy	21.84	Q
8	1	Antonio Sánchez	Spain	21.94	q
9	1	Per-Ola Olsson	Sweden	22.09
10	2	Jouko Hassi	Finland	22.11
11	4	Şükrü Çaprazlı	Turkey	22.59
	1	Athanassios Kaloyannis	Greece	DQ	[2]
	3	Czesław Prądzyński	Poland	DQ	[3]
	3	Odd Erik Kristiansen	Norway	DQ

Semifinals

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

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2	Aleksandr Yevgenyev	Soviet Union	21.12	Q
2	1	Ade Mafe	Great Britain	21.36	Q
3	1	Giovanni Bongiorni	Italy	21.46	Q
4	1	Antonio Sánchez	Spain	21.48
5	1	Carlo Simionato	Italy	21.50
6	2	Roland Jokl	Austria	21.65	Q
	2	Luboš Balošák	Czechoslovakia	DNF
	2	Stefano Tilli	Italy	DQ

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Aleksandr Yevgenyev	Soviet Union	20.98
	Ade Mafe	Great Britain	21.34
	Giovanni Bongiorni	Italy	21.48
4	Roland Jokl	Austria	21.78