| Event: | Men's 400 metres hurdles |
| Competition: | European Athletics Championships |
The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1986 European Athletics Championships was held in Stuttgart, then West Germany, at Neckarstadion on 26, 27, and 28 August 1986.
| Gold | Harald Schmid | |
| Silver | Aleksandr Vasilyev | |
| Bronze | Sven Nylander |
28 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | align=left | 48.65 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | 48.76 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | | 49.38 | ||||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 49.62 | ||||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 50.02 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 50.30 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 50.45 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 51.83 |
27 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 49.17 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 49.45 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 49.47 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 49.86 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left |  | 50.28 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 50.44 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 50.67 | ||||
| align=left | align=left | DQ |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 48.80 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 48.83 | NR Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 49.21 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 49.77 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left |  | 49.82 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | 50.00 | ||||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 50.06 | ||||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 50.42 |
26 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | | 49.80 | Q | ||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 50.02 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 50.03 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 50.09 | q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 50.89 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 51.27 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 49.61 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 49.74 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 49.92 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 50.17 | q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 50.69 | q | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | 50.91 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 50.15 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 50.45 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 50.64 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left |  | 50.70 | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 50.76 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 51.58 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | | 51.82 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 49.85 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 49.96 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 50.00 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 50.00 | q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 52.16 |
According to an unofficial count, 24 athletes from 13 countries participated in the event.
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