| Event: | Women's 400 metres |
| Competition: | European Athletics Championships |
These are the official results of the Women's 400 metres event at the 1990 European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, held at Stadion Poljud on 27, 28, and 29 August 1990.
| Gold | Grit Breuer | |
| Silver | Petra Schersing | |
| Bronze | Marie-José Pérec |
29 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | align=left | 49.50 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | 50.51 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | | 50.84 | ||||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 51.14 | ||||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 51.22 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | 51.31 | ||||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 51.67 | ||||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | | 52.11 |
28 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 50.89 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 51.05 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 51.20 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 52.06 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 52.16 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 52.77 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 53.57 | ||||
| align=left | align=left | DNF |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 51.43 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 51.45 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 51.56 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 51.63 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 51.65 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 53.05 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 53.26 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 53.53 |
27 August
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 52.50 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 52.56 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 52.60 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 53.01 | q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 53.06 | q | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | 53.09 | ||||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 53.74 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 52.42 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 52.72 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 53.01 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 53.57 | ||||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 54.08 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | 54.46 | ||||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | 54.88 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 52.18 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 52.44 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 52.76 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 52.91 | q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 53.00 | q | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | 55.64 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 51.64 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 52.83 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 52.95 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left |  | 53.47 | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 54.13 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 54.61 |
According to an unofficial count, 26 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.
(1) (3) (3) (1) (2)