1978 European Athletics Championships – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay

The men's 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1978 European Athletics Championships was held in Prague, then Czechoslovakia, at Stadion Evžena Rošického on 2 and 3 September 1978.

Men's 4 x 400 metres relay at the European Athletics Championships

Medalists

Gold	Martin Weppler Franz-Peter Hofmeister Bernd Herrmann Harald Schmid West Germany
Silver	Jerzy Włodarczyk Zbigniew Jaremski Cezary Łapiński Ryszard Podlas Poland
Bronze	Josef Lomický František Břečka Miroslav Tulis Karel Kolář Czechoslovakia

Results

Final

3 September

Rank	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
	West Germany	Martin Weppler Franz-Peter Hofmeister Bernd Herrmann Harald Schmid	3:02.03	CR
	Poland	Jerzy Włodarczyk Zbigniew Jaremski Cezary Łapiński Ryszard Podlas	3:03.62
	Czechoslovakia	Josef Lomický František Břečka Miroslav Tulis Karel Kolář	3:03.99
4	Switzerland	Rolf Strittmatter Peter Haas Konstantin Vogt Rolf Gisler	3:04.29
5	East Germany	Frank Richter Günther Arnold Andreas Busse Jürgen Pfennig	3:04.39
6	France	Maurice Volmar Gérard Bouttier Hector Llatser Francis Demarthon	3:05.63
7	Italy	Roberto Tozzi Daniele Zanini Stefano Malinverni Pietro Mennea	3:06.7
8	Yugoslavia	Rok Kopitar Dragan Životić Milovan Savić Željko Knapić	3:06.9

Heats

2 September

Heat 1

Rank	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
1	Poland	Jerzy Włodarczyk Zbigniew Jaremski Cezary Łapiński Ryszard Podlas	3:06.45	Q
2	Switzerland	Rolf Strittmatter Peter Haas Konstantin Vogt Rolf Gisler	3:06.6	Q
3	Czechoslovakia	Miroslav Tulis Josef Lomický František Břečka Karel Kolář	3:07.1	Q
4	Netherlands	Raymond Heerenveen Koen Gijsbers Marcel Klarenbeek Harry Schulting	3:07.6
5	Belgium	Eddy De Leeuw Jacques Borlée Rik Hermans Rik Vandenberghe	3:08.0
6	Great Britain	Terry Whitehead Glen Cohen David Jenkins Richard Ashton	3:39.9

Heat 2

Rank	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
1	West Germany	Martin Weppler Franz-Peter Hofmeister Bernd Herrmann Harald Schmid	3:05.97	Q
2	Italy	Roberto Tozzi Daniele Zanini Stefano Malinverni Pietro Mennea	3:06.5	Q
3	France	Maurice Volmar Gérard Bouttier Hector Llatser Francis Demarthon	3:06.6	Q
4	East Germany	Frank Richter Günther Arnold Andreas Busse Jürgen Pfennig	3:06.8	q
5	Yugoslavia	Rok Kopitar Dragan Životić Milovan Savić Željko Knapić	3:07.1	q
	Finland	Heikki Hämäläinen Markku Kukkoaho Antti Rajamäki Markku Taskinen	DNF

Participation

According to an unofficial count, 48 athletes from 12 countries participated in the event.

• Belgium (4)
• Czechoslovakia (4)
• East Germany (4)
• Finland (4)
• France (4)
• Italy (4)
• Netherlands (4)
• Poland (4)
• Switzerland (4)
• Great Britain (4)
• West Germany (4)
• Yugoslavia (4)