1971 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 400 metres

Held on 13 March

First 2 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Inge Bödding	West Germany	55.5	Q
2	1	Elisabeth Randerz	Sweden	55.5	Q
3	1	Nadezhda Kolesnikova	Soviet Union	56.0
4	1	Francine van Assche	Belgium	57.5
1	2	Gisela Ellenberger	West Germany	56.5	Q
2	2	Uschi Meyer	Switzerland	56.6	Q, NR
3	2	Éliane Jacq	France	58.0
1	3	Vera Popkova	Soviet Union	54.7	Q
2	3	Maria Sykora	Austria	55.3	Q, NR
3	3	Stefka Yordanova	Bulgaria	55.6
1	4	Svetla Zlateva	Bulgaria	54.1	Q
2	4	Gisela Ahlemeyer	West Germany	55.5	Q
3	4	Chantal Leclerc	France	55.5
4	4	Lyubov Finogenova	Soviet Union	55.8

Held on 13 March

First 2 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Svetla Zlateva	Bulgaria	54.5	Q
2	1	Inge Bödding	West Germany	54.8	Q
3	1	Uschi Meyer	Switzerland	55.5	NR
4	1	Gisela Ahlemeyer	West Germany	56.3
1	2	Vera Popkova	Soviet Union	54.8	Q
2	2	Maria Sykora	Austria	55.2	Q, NR
3	2	Gisela Ellenberger	West Germany	56.0
4	2	Elisabeth Randerz	Sweden	57.3

Held on 14 March

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Vera Popkova	Soviet Union	53.7
	Inge Bödding	West Germany	54.3
	Maria Sykora	Austria	54.4	NR
4	Svetla Zlateva	Bulgaria	54.6