| Event: | Women's 400 metres |
| Competition: | European Athletics Championships |
The women's 400 metres event at the 1986 European Athletics Championships was held in Stuttgart, then West Germany, at Neckarstadion on 26, 27, and 28 August 1986.
| Gold | Marita Koch | |
| Silver | Olga Vladykina | |
| Bronze | Petra Müller |
28 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | align=left | 48.22 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | 49.67 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | 49.88 | |||||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 50.43 | ||||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 51.15 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | 51.50 | ||||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 51.91 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 52.89 |
27 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 49.84 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 50.23 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 50.79 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 51.60 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 52.11 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 53.26 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 53.89 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left |  | 53.98 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 50.74 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 51.91 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 52.14 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 52.46 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 52.47 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 53.22 | |||
| align=left | align=left | DQ | |||||
| align=left | align=left | DNS |
26 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 52.34 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 52.43 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 52.86 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 52.91 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left |  | 54.51 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 54.65 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | | 52.79 | Q | ||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 52.81 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 52.92 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 53.02 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 53.30 | q | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 54.35 | q |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 52.26 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 52.36 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 52.39 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 52.39 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 52.46 | q | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 53.31 | q |
According to an unofficial count, 18 athletes from 11 countries participated in the event.
(1) (1) (2) (1) (1) (1)