1969 European Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres at the 1969 European Athletics Championships was held in Athens, Greece, at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium on 16, 17, and 18 September 1969.

Women's 400 metres at the European Athletics Championships

Medalists

Gold	Nicole Duclos France
Silver	Colette Besson France
Bronze	Maria Sykora Austria

Results

Final

18 September

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Nicole Duclos	France	51.7 (51.72)	WR
	Colette Besson	France	51.7 (51.74)	WR
	Maria Sykora	Austria	53.0	NR
4	Hannelore Middecke	East Germany	53.1	NR
5	Karin Lundgren	Sweden	53.4
6	Donata Govoni	Italy	53.6
7	Janet Simpson	Great Britain	53.8
8	Rosemary Stirling	Great Britain	54.6

Semi-finals

17 September

Semi-final 1

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Colette Besson	France	52.2	Q
2	Hannelore Middecke	East Germany	53.3	NR Q
3	Janet Simpson	Great Britain	53.6	Q
4	Donata Govoni	Italy	53.7	NR Q
5	Taysiya Kovalevskaya	Soviet Union	54.1
6	Jennifer Pawsey	Great Britain	54.8
7	Elżbieta Skowrońska	Poland	55.3
	Berit Berthelsen	Norway	DNS

Semi-final 2

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Maria Sykora	Austria	53.2	NR Q
2	Nicole Duclos	France	53.2	Q
3	Karin Lundgren	Sweden	54.2	Q
4	Rosemary Stirling	Great Britain	54.3	Q
5	Krystyna Hryniewicka	Poland	54.7
6	Eliane Jacq	France	54.7
7	Uschi Meyer	Switzerland	54.9
8	Olga Klein	Soviet Union	56.3

Heats

16 September

Heat 1

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Nicole Duclos	France	53.2	Q
2	Karin Lundgren	Sweden	54.5	Q
3	Donata Govoni	Italy	54.6	Q
4	Rosemary Stirling	Great Britain	54.7	Q
5	Anna Dundare	Soviet Union	55.2

Heat 2

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Colette Besson	France	52.1	CR Q
2	Maria Sykora	Austria	53.6	NR Q
3	Janet Simpson	Great Britain	54.1	Q
4	Hannelore Middecke	East Germany	54.2	Q
5	Elisabeth Randerz	Sweden	55.5
6	Eeva Haimi	Finland	55.8

Heat 3

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Jennifer Pawsey	Great Britain	54.8	Q
2	Eliane Jacq	France	54.9	Q
3	Olga Klein	Soviet Union	55.0	Q
4	Krystyna Hryniewicka	Poland	55.4	Q
5	Birgitte Jennes	Denmark	55.5

Heat 4

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	Taysiya Kovalevskaya	Soviet Union	55.0	Q
2	Berit Berthelsen	Norway	55.2	Q
3	Uschi Meyer	Switzerland	55.5	Q
4	Elżbieta Skowrońska	Poland	55.6	Q

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 20 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.

• Austria (1)
• Denmark (1)
• East Germany (1)
• Finland (1)
• France (3)
• Italy (1)
• Norway (1)
• Poland (2)
• Soviet Union (3)
• Sweden (2)
• Switzerland (1)
• Great Britain (3)