| Final 19:30 | time | | | 1. Bertel Storskrubb |  Finland | 52.2s | CR NR | | 2. Sixten Larsson |  Sweden | 52.4s | NR | | 3. Rune Larsson | Sweden | 52.5s | | | 4. Yves Cros |  France | 52.6s | NR | | 5. Werner Christen |  Switzerland | 55.4s | | | 6. Ronald Ede |  Great Britain | 56.5s | |
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| History Men 400m Hurdles. Venue: Bislett Stadion. | | World Record: Hardin (USA) 50.6s | | European Record: Hoelling, Germany 51.6s | | Season Best: Rune Larsson, Sweden 53.0s |
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| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Yves Cros | France | 54.7s | Q | | 2. Rune Larsson | Sweden | 55.8s | Q | | 3. Werner Christen | Switzerland | 57.7s | Q | | 4. Vlastimil Holeček |  Czechia | 58.4s | | | 5. Ole Dorph-Jensen |  Denmark | 62.7s | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Bertel Storskrubb | Finland | 54.2s | Q | | 2. Rune Larsson | Sweden | 54.8s | Q | | 3. Ronald Ede | Great Britain | 55.3s | Q | | 4. Jacques Maloubier | France | 55.3s | | | 5. Werner Rugel | Switzerland | 55.5s | |
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