1978 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 400 metres
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The men's 400 metres event at the 1978 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held on 11 and 12 March in Milan.[1][2]
Medalists
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
Pietro Mennea Italy | Ryszard Podlas Poland | Nikolay Chernetskiy Soviet Union |
Results
Heats
First 2 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Nikolay Chernetskiy | Soviet Union | 47.20 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Ryszard Podlas | Poland | 47.80 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Alfonso Di Guida | Italy | 47.96 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Karel Kolář |  Czechoslovakia | 47.96 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Narzis Popov |  Bulgaria | 48.19 | |
| 6 | 2 | Eddy De Leeuw |  Belgium | 48.34 | |
| 7 | 4 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 48.40 | Q |
| 8 | 4 | Željko Knapić |  Yugoslavia | 48.55 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Nándor Hornyacsek |  Hungary | 48.64 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | Yanko Bratanov | Bulgaria | 48.64 | |
| 11 | 1 | Vasiliy Arkhipenko | Soviet Union | 48.79 | Q |
| 12 | 1 | Giovanni Bongiorni | Italy | 48.79 | |
| 13 | 4 | Pavel Pavlov | Bulgaria | 48.83 |
Semifinals
First 2 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Ryszard Podlas | Poland | 47.08 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 47.16 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Nikolay Chernetskiy | Soviet Union | 47.29 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Željko Knapić | Yugoslavia | 47.61 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Vasiliy Arkhipenko | Soviet Union | 47.71 | |
| 6 | 1 | Alfonso Di Guida | Italy | 47.86 | |
| 7 | 1 | Nándor Hornyacsek | Hungary | 48.06 | |
| 8 | 2 | Karel Kolář | Czechoslovakia | 48.62 |
Final
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 46.51 | |
 | Ryszard Podlas | Poland | 46.55 | |
 | Nikolay Chernetskiy | Soviet Union | 46.72 | |
| 4 | Željko Knapić | Yugoslavia | 47.83 |
