Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles
These are the official results of the Men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 31 August - 2 September.
Heats
The top three runners in each of the five heats and the next fastest, advanced to the semifinal round.Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Dieter Büttner | 49.78 | |
| 2 | Viktor Savchenko | 49.90 | |
| 3 | Jean-Pierre Corval | 50.15 | |
| 4 | Tadeusz Kulczycki | 50.19 | |
| 5 | Manuel Soriano | 50.88 | |
| 6 | Fatwell Kimaiyo | 51.23 | |
| 7 | Roberto Frinolli | 51.69 | |
| 8 | Jean-Aimé Randrianalijaona | 52.75 |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | David Hemery | 49.72 | |
| 2 | Gary Knoke | 50.10 | |
| 3 | Yuriy Zorin | 50.35 | |
| 4 | Bill Koskei | 50.58 | |
| 5 | Giorgio Ballati | 50.90 | |
| 6 | José Jacinto Hidalgo | 54.00 | |
| 7 | Norman Brinkworth | 54.67 |
Heat three
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Christian Rudolph | 50.00 | |
| 2 | Ralph Mann | 50.18 | |
| 3 | Rainer Schubert | 50.23 | |
| 4 | Ari Salin | 50.45 | |
| 5 | Jean-Pierre Perrinelle | 51.81 | |
| 6 | José Carvalho | 52.64 | |
| 7 | Hassan Bergaoui | 53.70 |
Heat four
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | John Akii-Bua | 50.35 | |
| 2 | Stavros Tziortzis | 50.54 | |
| 3 | Ivan Daniš | 50.62 | |
| 4 | Bruce Field | 51.46 | |
| 5 | Hansjörg Wirz | 52.34 | |
| 6 | Dick Bruggeman | 54.36 | |
| 7 | Julio Ferrer | 54.83 | |
| - | Francisco Rojas Soto | DNS |
Heat five
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Yevgeny Gavrilenko | 49.73 | |
| 2 | Jim Seymour | 49.81 | |
| 3 | Rolf Ziegler | 50.17 | |
| 4 | Roger Johnson | 50.48 | |
| 5 | Mike Murei | 51.63 | |
| 6 | Lee Chung-Ping | 52.61 | |
| 7 | Gladstone Agbamu | 53.68 | |
| - | John Sherwood | DNF |
Semifinals
Top four in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | John Akii-Bua | 49.25 | |
| 2 | Ralph Mann | 49.53 | |
| 3 | David Hemery | 49.66 | |
| 4 | Rainer Schubert | 49.80 | |
| 5 | Rolf Ziegler | 49.88 | |
| 6 | Ivan Daniš | 50.01 | |
| 7 | Viktor Savchenko | 50.28 | |
| 8 | Jean-Pierre Corval | 50.75 |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Jim Seymour | 49.33 | |
| 2 | Yevgeny Gavrilenko | 49.34 | |
| 3 | Yuriy Zorin | 49.60 | |
| 4 | Stavros Tziortzis | 50.06 | |
| 5 | Tadeusz Kulczycki | 50.80 | |
| 6 | Gary Knoke | 52.79 | |
| - | Christian Rudolph | DNF | |
| - | Dieter Büttner | DNF |