1981 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres event at the 1981 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held on 21 and 22 February.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Jarmila Kratochvílová Czechoslovakia	Natalya Bochina Soviet Union	Verona Elder Great Britain

Results

Heats

First 2 from each heat (Q) and the net 2 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Natalya Bochina	Soviet Union	52.95	Q
2	1	Erica Rossi	Italy	53.04	Q
3	3	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	53.25	Q
4	3	Verona Elder	Great Britain	53.69	Q
5	2	Karoline Käfer	Austria	53.75	Q
6	1	Rita Daimer	West Germany	53.87	q
7	2	Sophie Malbranque	France	54.10	Q
8	3	Sylvie Revaux	France	54.55	q
9	1	Marie-Christine Champenois	France	54.59
10	2	Liliya Tuznikova	Soviet Union	55.05
	3	Montserrat Pujol	Spain	DNS

Semifinals

First 3 from each semifinal qualified directly (Q) for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	52.04	Q
2	2	Karoline Käfer	Austria	52.56	Q
3	1	Verona Elder	Great Britain	52.80	Q
4	2	Erica Rossi	Italy	52.81
5	1	Natalya Bochina	Soviet Union	53.20	Q
6	2	Sylvie Revaux	France	54.01
7	1	Sophie Malbranque	France	54.59
8	1	Rita Daimer	West Germany	54.61

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	50.07	CR
	Natalya Bochina	Soviet Union	52.32	AJR
	Verona Elder	Great Britain	52.37
4	Karoline Käfer	Austria	52.50