Final | | time | | 1. Aleksandr Bratchikov | Soviet Union | 46.8s | | 2. Andrzej Badeński | Poland | 46.9s | | 3. Yuriy Zorin | Soviet Union | 48.4s | | 4. Jan Balachowski | Poland | DNF | |
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| First 2 from each Heat advanced to Final. |
Heat 1 | | time | | 1. Andrzej Badeński | Poland | 46.6s | Q | 2. Aleksandr Bratchikov | Soviet Union | 46.6s | q | 3. Ingo Röper | West Germany | 47.3s | |
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Heat 2 | | time | | 1. Jan Balachowski | Poland | 47.3s | Q | 2. Boris Savchuk | Soviet Union | 47.5s | | 3. Ramon Magariños | Spain | 48.9s | |
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Heat 3 | | time | | 1. Yuriy Zorin | Soviet Union | 46.9s | Q | 2. Wolfgang Müller | East Germany | 46.9s | | 3. Fanahan McSweeney | Ireland | 47.0s | |
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