| Final | | time | | L | | 1. Andreas Knebel |  East Germany | 46.52s | | 2 | | 2. Martin Weppler |  West Germany | 46.88s | | 1 | | 3. Stefano Malinverni |  Italy | 46.96s | | 3 | | 4. Paul Bourdin |  France | 47.69s | | 4 |
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| | First 2 from each Semi advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | | time | | | 4. Martin Weppler | West Germany | 48.04s | Q | | 6. Stefano Malinverni | Italy | 48.27s | Q | | 7. Dinko Penev |  Bulgaria | 48.50s | | | 8. Jacques Fellice | France | 48.61s | |
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| Semi 2 | | time | | | 1. Andreas Knebel | East Germany | 47.10s | Q | | 2. Paul Bourdin | France | 47.43s | Q | | 3. Didier Dubois | France | 47.68s | | | 5. Koen Gijsbers |  Netherlands | 48.23s | |
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| Heat 1 | | time | | | 1. Dinko Penev | Bulgaria | 47.58s | Q | | 3. Didier Dubois | France | 47.93s | Q | | 12.Roberto Ribaud | Italy | 49.53s | | | -. Hartmut Weber | West Germany | DNF | |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | | 2. Andreas Knebel | East Germany | 47.86s | Q | | 4. Martin Weppler | West Germany | 48.11s | Q | | 8. Benjamín González |  Spain | 48.37s | |
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| Heat 3 | | time | | | 5. Jacques Fellice | France | 48.17s | Q | | 6. Koen Gijsbers | Netherlands | 48.21s | Q, NR | | 7. Ainsley Bennett |  Great Britain | 48.23s | |
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| Heat 4 | | time | | | 9. Stefano Malinverni | Italy | 48.44s | Q | | 10.Paul Bourdin | France | 48.49s | Q | | 11.Rolf Gisler |  Switzerland | 48.86s | |
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