1978 European Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres hurdles

The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Prague, then Czechoslovakia, at Stadion Evžena Rošického on 1 and 2 September 1978.

Medalists

Gold	Tatyana Zelentsova Soviet Union
Silver	Silvia Hollmann West Germany
Bronze	Karin Roßley East Germany

Results

Final

2 September

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Tatyana Zelentsova	Soviet Union	54.89	WR
	Silvia Hollmann	West Germany	55.14	NR
	Karin Roßley	East Germany	55.36	NR
4	Brigitte Köhn	East Germany	55.46
5	Krystyna Kacperczyk	Poland	55.55	NR
6	Anita Weiß	East Germany	55.63
7	Ingrīda Barkāne	Soviet Union	55.97
8	Genowefa Błaszak	Poland	57.72

Semi-finals

2 September

Semi-final 1

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Silvia Hollmann	West Germany	56.08	CR Q
2	Anita Weiß	East Germany	56.19	Q
3	Krystyna Kacperczyk	Poland	56.20	Q
4	Karin Roßley	East Germany	56.27	Q
5	Mary Appleby	Ireland	57.36
6	Marina Makeyeva	Soviet Union	57.49
7	Lea Alaerts	Belgium	57.68
	Svilenka Filipova	Bulgaria	DNF

Semi-final 2

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Tatyana Zelentsova	Soviet Union	55.89	CR Q
2	Ingrīda Barkāne	Soviet Union	56.32	Q
3	Brigitte Köhn	East Germany	56.55	Q
4	Genowefa Błaszak	Poland	56.67	Q
5	Erika Weinstein	West Germany	57.22
6	Hilde Fredriksen	Norway	58.35
7	Anne Michel	Belgium	58.67
8	Liz Sutherland	Great Britain	62.83

Heats

1 September

Heat 1

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Brigitte Köhn	East Germany	56.83	Q
2	Krystyna Kacperczyk	Poland	57.18	Q
3	Erika Weinstein	West Germany	57.56	Q
4	Mary Appleby	Ireland	57.66	Q
5	Eva Mohacsi	Hungary	59.61
6	Rosa-Maria Colorado	Spain	59.76
7	Kristianne Staut	Belgium	68.51

Heat 2

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Silvia Hollmann	West Germany	57.50	Q
2	Karin Roßley	East Germany	58.07	Q
3	Hilde Fredriksen	Norway	58.12	NJR Q
4	Ingrīda Barkāne	Soviet Union	58.29	Q
5	Doina Badescu	Romania	59.72
6	Wilma Hillen	Netherlands	59.97
7	Kamila Jozefíková	Czechoslovakia	60.61

Heat 3

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Liz Sutherland	Great Britain	57.61	Q
2	Marina Makeyeva	Soviet Union	57.66	Q
3	Lea Alaerts	Belgium	57.74	Q
4	Genowefa Błaszak	Poland	58.11	Q
5	Anne Aren	Sweden	59.32
6	Montserrat Pujol	Spain	60.21
7	Dana Wildová	Czechoslovakia	60.97

Heat 4

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Anita Weiß	East Germany	56.19	CR Q
2	Tatyana Zelentsova	Soviet Union	56.44	Q
3	Anne Michel	Belgium	58.19	Q
4	Svilenka Filipova	Bulgaria	58.31	Q
5	Danièle Lairloup	France	58.47
6	Lisbeth Helbling	Switzerland	58.57
7	Hana Slámová	Czechoslovakia	60.77

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 28 athletes from 17 countries participated in the event.

• Belgium (3)
• Bulgaria (1)
• Czechoslovakia (3)
• East Germany (3)
• France (1)
• Hungary (1)
• Ireland (1)
• Netherlands (1)
• Norway (1)
• Poland (2)
• Romania (1)
• Soviet Union (3)
• Spain (2)
• Sweden (1)
• Switzerland (1)
• Great Britain (1)
• West Germany (2)