| Final | time | | | 1. Karl Honz |  FRG | 45.04s | CR | | 2. David Jenkins |  GBR | 45.67s | | | 3. Bernd Herrmann | FRG | 45.78s | | | 4. Markku Kukkoaho |  FIN | 45.84s | | | 5. Ossi Karttunen | FIN | 45.87s | | | 6. Michael Fredriksson |  SWE | 46.12s | | | 7. Erik Carlgren | SWE | 46.15s | | | 8. Francis Demarthon |  FRA | 46.90s | |
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Semi-Finals - Tuesday 03.09 18:10 | | First 4 progress to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | | | 1. Karl Honz | FRG | 46.24s | Q | | 2. Francis Demarthon | FRA | 46.28s | Q | | 3. Markku Kukkoaho | FIN | 46.29s | Q | | 4. Erik Carlgren | SWE | 46.51s | Q | | 5. Jürgen Utikal |  GDR | 46.62s | | | 6. Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske | FRG | 46.64s | | | 7. Per-Olof Sjöberg | SWE | 46.68s | | | 8. Roger Jenkins | GBR | 47.30s | |
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| Semi 2 | time | | | 1. David Jenkins | GBR | 45.93s | Q | | 2. Ossi Karttunen | FIN | 46.36s | Q | | 3. Michael Fredriksson | SWE | 46.39s | Q | | 4. Bernd Herrmann | FRG | 46.40s | Q | | 5. Alfons Brijdenbach |  BEL | 46.43s | | | 6. Milorad Čikić |  YUG | 47.04s | | | 7. Andreas Scheibe | GDR | 47.24s | | | 8. Toine van den Goolberg |  NED | 47.40s | |
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Heats - Monday 02.09 | | First 4 and Best 4 progressed to Semi-Finals. |
| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske | FRG | 45.92s | Q | | 2. Alfons Brijdenbach | BEL | 46.00s | Q | | 3. Francis Demarthon | FRA | 46.11s | Q | | 4. Andreas Scheibe | GDR | 46.38s | Q | | 5. Per-Olof Sjöberg | SWE | 46.63s | q | | 6. Roger Jenkins | GBR | 46.78s | q | | 7. Roman Siedlecki |  POL | 47.35s | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Bernd Herrmann | FRG | 46.30s | Q | | 2. Markku Kukkoaho | FIN | 46.38s | Q | | 3. Jürgen Utikal | GDR | 46.44s | Q | | 4. Toine van den Goolberg | NED | 46.46s | Q | | 5. Milorad Čikić | YUG | 46.68s | q | | 6. Michael Fredriksson | SWE | 47.01s | q | | 7. Stephen Marlow | GBR | 48.71s | |
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| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Ossi Karttunen | FIN | 46.50s | Q | | 2. David Jenkins | GBR | 46.60s | Q | | 3. Erik Carlgren | SWE | 46.97s | Q | | 4. Karl Honz | FRG | 46.98s | Q | | 5. Josip Alebić | YUG | 47.41s | | | 6. Pasqualino Abeti |  ITA | 47.80s | |
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