1978 European Athletics Championships
Track events
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
800 m	men	women
1500 m	men	women
3000 m		women
5000 m	men
10,000 m	men
100 m hurdles		women
110 m hurdles	men
400 m hurdles	men	women
3000 m steeplechase	men
4 × 100 m relay	men	women
4 × 400 m relay	men	women
Road events
Marathon	men
20 km walk	men
50 km walk	men
Field events
Long jump	men	women
Triple jump	men
High jump	men	women
Pole vault	men
Shot put	men	women
Discus throw	men	women
Hammer throw	men
Javelin throw	men	women
Combined events
Pentathlon		women
Decathlon	men
v t e

The women's 400 metres at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Prague, then Czechoslovakia, at Stadion Evžena Rošického on 29, 30, and 31 August 1978.^[1]

Gold	Marita Koch  East Germany
Silver	Christina Brehmer  East Germany
Bronze	Irena Szewińska  Poland

31 August

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Marita Koch	East Germany	48.94	WR
	Christina Brehmer	East Germany	50.38
	Irena Szewińska	Poland	50.40
4	Mariya Kulchunova	Soviet Union	51.25
5	Christiane Marquardt	East Germany	51.99
6	Donna Hartley	Great Britain	52.31
7	Pirjo Häggman	Finland	52.46
8	Verona Elder	Great Britain	52.53

30 August

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Marita Koch	East Germany	51.76	Q
2	Mariya Kulchunova	Soviet Union	51.88	Q
3	Donna Hartley	Great Britain	52.14	Q
4	Pirjo Häggman	Finland	52.24	Q
5	Elke Decker	West Germany	52.92
6	Joslyn Hoyte	Great Britain	52.95
7	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	53.93
8	Patricia Darbonville	France	54.47

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Christina Brehmer	East Germany	52.01	Q
2	Christiane Marquardt	East Germany	52.29	Q
3	Irena Szewińska	Poland	52.37	Q
4	Verona Elder	Great Britain	52.65	Q
5	Gaby Bussmann	West Germany	52.66
6	Dagmar Fuhrmann	West Germany	53.23
7	Ilona Pál	Hungary	53.50
8	Marina Sidorova	Soviet Union	54.08

29 August

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Marita Koch	East Germany	52.95	Q
2	Irena Szewińska	Poland	53.14	Q
3	Ilona Pál	Hungary	53.42	Q
4	Patricia Darbonville	France	53.50	q
5	Rosine Wallez	Belgium	53.99
6	Anne Aren	Sweden	54.37

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Christiane Marquardt	East Germany	52.12	Q
2	Joslyn Hoyte	Great Britain	52.29	Q
3	Gaby Bussmann	West Germany	52.92	Q
4	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	53.33	q
5	Marina Sidorova	Soviet Union	53.72	q
6	Yvonne Hannus	Finland	53.98
7	Ibolya Petrika	Hungary	54.01

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Christina Brehmer	East Germany	51.71	Q
2	Verona Elder	Great Britain	52.64	Q
3	Pirjo Häggman	Finland	52.68	Q
4	Elke Decker	West Germany	52.97	q
5	Catherine Delachanal	France	53.81
6	Truus van Amstel	Netherlands	54.37

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Mariya Kulchunova	Soviet Union	51.55	Q
2	Dagmar Fuhrmann	West Germany	53.45	Q
3	Donna Hartley	Great Britain	53.61	Q
4	Silvia Schinzel	Austria	53.80
5	Rozalia Halmosi	Hungary	53.93
6	Eva Ráková	Czechoslovakia	54.00

According to an unofficial count, 25 athletes from 13 countries participated in the event.