The three heats of round 1 were held on 17 August. The three fastest athletes of each heat plus the next three fastest of the rest qualified for the semifinals,
where they were joined by the twelve highest-ranking athletes, who had a bye in round 1. The three heats of the semifinals were held on 18 August. The two fastest athletes of each heat and the next two fastest of the rest qualified for the finals. Viivi Lehikoinen set a Finnish record of 54.50 seconds in the semifinals.
For the women's 400 metres hurdles, the qualification period was from 27 July 2021 to 26 July 2022. Athletes could qualify by running the entry standard of 55.85 seconds or faster, by a receiving a wild card, or by their position on the World Athletics Rankings for the event.[7]
Results
Round 1
The three heats of round 1 were held on 17 August, starting at 11:40 (UTC+2). The first three athletes in each heat (Q) and the next three fastest athletes (q) advanced to the semifinals. The twelve highest ranked athletes received a bye into the semifinals. Four athletes set a personal best (PB).[4]
The semifinal heats were held on 18 August, starting at 11:55 (UTC+2). The first two athletes in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest athletes (q) advance to the final. Viivi Lehikoinen set a Finnish record (NR) of 54.50 seconds and another three athletes set personal bests (PB) in this round.[8]
The final was held at 19 August, starting at 21:45 (UTC+2) in the evening.[9]Femke Bol of the Netherlands won the gold medal with a new championship record (CR) of 52.67 seconds, improving the 12-year-old record of Natalya Antyukh by 0.25 seconds.[9] Two days earlier, she had also won the women's 400 metres, this double victory was unprecedented at the European Athletics Championships.[10]Viktoriya Tkachuk of Ukraine won the silver medal in 54.30 seconds and Anna Ryzhykova of Ukraine won the bronze medal in 54.86 seconds.[9]