The men's 50 metres event at the 1972 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held on 11 March in Grenoble. [1] [2]
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Valeriy Borzov | Aleksandr Kornelyuk | Vasilis Papageorgopoulos |
First 4 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Vasilis Papageorgopoulos | 5.75 | Q, WB | |
| 2 | 3 | Aleksandr Kornelyuk | 5.80 | Q | |
| 3 | 1 | Gerhard Wucherer | 5.82 | Q | |
| 4 | 2 | Valeriy Borzov | 5.83 | Q | |
| 5 | 2 | Raimo Vilén | 5.88 | Q | |
| 6 | 1 | Manuel Carballo | 5.92 | Q | |
| 6 | 1 | Barrie Kelly | 5.92 | Q | |
| 6 | 2 | Manfred Schumann | 5.92 | Q | |
| 9 | 2 | Romain Roels | 6.01 | Q | |
| 9 | 3 | Patrick Bourbeillon | 6.01 | Q, NR | |
| 9 | 3 | Philippe Clerc | 6.01 | Q | |
| 12 | 1 | Erik Gustafsson | 6.02 | Q | |
| 12 | 2 | Søren Viggo Pedersen | 6.02 | ||
| 12 | 3 | Vittorio Roscio | 6.02 | ||
| 15 | 1 | Luděk Bohman | 6.13 |
First 3 from each heat (Q) qualified directly for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Vasilis Papageorgopoulos | 5.77 | Q | |
| 1 | 2 | Valeriy Borzov | 5.77 | Q, NR | |
| 3 | 1 | Aleksandr Kornelyuk | 5.80 | Q | |
| 4 | 1 | Raimo Vilén | 5.82 | Q, NR | |
| 5 | 2 | Gerhard Wucherer | 5.83 | Q | |
| 6 | 1 | Patrick Bourbeillon | 5.85 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Manuel Carballo | 5.90 | Q, NR | |
| 8 | 1 | Barrie Kelly | 5.92 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Manfred Schumann | 5.92 | ||
| 10 | 2 | Romain Roels | 5.98 | ||
| 11 | 2 | Erik Gustafsson | 6.05 | ||
| 12 | 1 | Philippe Clerc | 6.15 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valeriy Borzov | 5.75 | =WB | ||
| Aleksandr Kornelyuk | 5.81 | |||
| Vasilis Papageorgopoulos | 5.82 | |||
| 4 | Gerhard Wucherer | 5.84 | ||
| 5 | Raimo Vilén | 5.93 | ||
| 6 | Manuel Carballo | 6.28 |