Athletics at the 1978 Commonwealth Games – Men's 400 metres

Held on 6 August

Qualification: First 5 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualify for the quarterfinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	6	Joel Ngetich	Kenya	46.50	Q
2	4	Rick Mitchell	Australia	46.74	Q
3	5	Glenn Bogue	Canada	46.77	Q
4	5	Clyde Edwards	Barbados	46.78	Q
5	6	Glen Cohen	England	47.15	Q
6	4	Washington Njiri	Kenya	47.20	Q
7	5	Chum Darvall	Australia	47.42	Q
7	6	John Bandu	Ghana	47.42	Q
9	2	Richard Ashton	England	47.50	Q
10	3	Terry Whitehead	England	47.52	Q
11	2	Joseph Coombs	Trinidad and Tobago	47.53	Q
12	4	Michael Delaney	Wales	47.56	Q
13	2	Jeremiah Ongwae	Kenya	47.61	Q
14	3	Rayfield Beaton	Guyana	47.77	Q
15	1	David Jenkins	Scotland	47.78	Q
16	1	Fred Sowerby	Antigua and Barbuda	47.82	Q
17	4	Clive Beattie	Northern Ireland	47.83	Q
18	1	Mike Paul	Trinidad and Tobago	47.87	Q
19	5	Roger Jenkins	Scotland	47.93	Q
20	1	Jeff Griffiths	Wales	47.97	Q
21	6	Bevan Smith	New Zealand	48.02	Q
22	4	Mike Solomon	Trinidad and Tobago	48.14	Q
23	2	Brian Saunders	Canada	48.26	Q
24	3	John Higham	Australia	48.27	Q
25	6	Appunidage Premachandra	Sri Lanka	48.30	Q
26	3	Zvonko Stankovic	Canada	48.31	Q
27	2	Elroy Turner	Antigua and Barbuda	48.46	Q
28	1	Bertland Cameron	Jamaica	48.49	Q
29	3	Benjamin Soglo	Ghana	48.53	Q
30	6	Carlsen Phillips	Bermuda	48.77	q
31	2	Renelda Swan	Bermuda	48.78	q
32	3	David Anderson	Isle of Man	48.80
33	1	Vaughn Harvey	Bermuda	48.86
34	5	Donald Pierre	Grenada	49.19	Q
35	4	Lester Flax	Antigua and Barbuda	49.42
36	6	Norris Bailey	Belize	49.64
37	5	Heligar Calderon	Saint Lucia	50.04
38	2	Keith Rocque	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	50.15
39	4	Henry Carver	Mauritius	50.76
40	5	Bambo Fatty	Gambia	50.98
41	3	Michael Olliviere	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	51.15
42	1	Genevieve Nestor	Saint Lucia	51.39

Held on 6 August

Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualify for the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	3	Glenn Bogue	Canada	46.06	Q
2	2	Richard Ashton	England	46.27	Q
3	4	Rick Mitchell	Australia	46.36	Q
4	1	Clyde Edwards	Barbados	46.38	Q
5	2	Joseph Coombs	Trinidad and Tobago	46.40	Q
6	3	Joel Ngetich	Kenya	46.43	Q
7	3	Glen Cohen	England	46.45	Q
8	2	Washington Njiri	Kenya	46.46	Q
9	1	Terry Whitehead	England	46.52	Q
10	1	Brian Saunders	Canada	46.59	Q
11	2	David Jenkins	Scotland	46.66	q
12	2	Chum Darvall	Australia	46.71	q
13	1	Bevan Smith	New Zealand	46.77	q
14	4	Fred Sowerby	Antigua and Barbuda	46.80	Q
15	4	Mike Solomon	Trinidad and Tobago	46.89	Q
16	1	Rayfield Beaton	Guyana	47.07	q
17	1	Bertland Cameron	Jamaica	47.20
18	3	John Bandu	Ghana	47.21
19	4	Jeremiah Ongwae	Kenya	47.31
20	1	Michael Delaney	Wales	47.41
21	4	Jeff Griffiths	Wales	47.41
22	3	Roger Jenkins	Scotland	47.44
23	4	Clive Beattie	Northern Ireland	47.77
24	3	Mike Paul	Trinidad and Tobago	47.83
25	3	John Higham	Australia	47.84
26	4	Zvonko Stankovic	Canada	48.20
27	4	Benjamin Soglo	Ghana	48.29
28	2	Elroy Turner	Antigua and Barbuda	48.35
29	2	Renelda Swan	Bermuda	48.77
30	3	Carlsen Phillips	Bermuda	48.99
31	2	Donald Pierre	Grenada	50.45
	1	Appunidage Premachandra	Sri Lanka	DNS

Held on 7 August

Qualification: First 4 in each semifinal (Q) qualify directly for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Fred Sowerby	Antigua and Barbuda	46.86	Q
2	1	Joseph Coombs	Trinidad and Tobago	46.87	Q
3	1	Richard Ashton	England	46.88	Q
3	2	Rick Mitchell	Australia	46.88	Q
5	2	Glen Cohen	England	47.00	Q
6	1	Brian Saunders	Canada	47.32	Q
6	2	Glenn Bogue	Canada	47.32	Q
8	1	David Jenkins	Scotland	47.37
9	1	Chum Darvall	Australia	47.41
10	2	Mike Solomon	Trinidad and Tobago	47.61	Q
11	1	Clyde Edwards	Barbados	47.62
12	2	Joel Ngetich	Kenya	47.64
13	2	Terry Whitehead	England	47.85
14	2	Rayfield Beaton	Guyana	48.05
15	2	Bevan Smith	New Zealand	48.25
16	1	Washington Njiri	Kenya	48.55

Held on 7 August

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	Rick Mitchell	Australia	46.34
	Joseph Coombs	Trinidad and Tobago	46.54
	Glenn Bogue	Canada	46.63
4	Mike Solomon	Trinidad and Tobago	46.97
5	Glen Cohen	England	46.99
6	Richard Ashton	England	47.32
7	Fred Sowerby	Antigua and Barbuda	47.51
8	Brian Saunders	Canada	48.01