| Final | | time | | | 1. Sebastian Coe |  Great Britain | 1:46.54 | | | 2. Erwin Gohlke |  East Germany | 1:47.2 | | | 3. Rolf Gysin |  Switzerland | 1:47.6 | | | 4. Viktor Anokhin |  Soviet Union | 1:47.7 | | | 5. Günther Hasler |  Liechtenstein | 1:48.0 | | | 6. Antonio Páez |  Spain | 1:48.3 | |
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| | First 2 from each Semi and next Best 2 advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | | time | | | 6. Günther Hasler | Liechtenstein | 1:49.6 | Q | | 7. Antonio Páez | Spain | 1:49.6 | Q | | 8. Olaf Beyer | East Germany | 1:49.6 | | | 9. Pavel Litovchenko | Soviet Union | 1:49.7 | | | 10.Rainer Burmester |  West Germany | 1:50.0 | | | 11.Feliks Wawrzon |  Poland | 1:53.1 | |
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| Semi 2 | | time | | | 1. Sebastian Coe | Great Britain | 1:48.2 | Q | | 2. Erwin Gohlke | East Germany | 1:48.3 | Q | | 3. Rolf Gysin | Switzerland | 1:48.4 | q | | 4. Viktor Anokhin | Soviet Union | 1:48.7 | q | | 5. Robert Hoofd |  Belgium | 1:49.5 | | | -. Carlo Grippo |  Italy | DNF | |
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Heats - Saturday, 12th March | | First 2 from each Heat and next Best 4 advanced to Semi-Finals. |
| Heat 1 | | time | | | 1. Antonio Páez | Spain | 1:48.8 | Q | | 4. Olaf Beyer | East Germany | 1:49.7 | Q | | 6. Carlo Grippo | Italy | 1:49.9 | q | | 7. Pavel Litovchenko | Soviet Union | 1:50.4 | q | | 8. Robert Hoofd | Belgium | 1:50.4 | q |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | | 2. Erwin Gohlke | East Germany | 1:49.5 | Q | | 3. Viktor Anokhin | Soviet Union | 1:49.6 | Q | | 4. Günther Hasler | Liechtenstein | 1:49.7 | q | | 9. Kees Ruyter |  Netherlands | 1:50.4 | | | 17.Eric Charron |  France | 1:52.5 | |
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| Heat 3 | | time | | | 11.Rainer Burmester | West Germany | 1:50.7 | Q | | 12.Rolf Gysin | Switzerland | 1:50.7 | Q | | 14.Milovan Savić |  Yugoslavia | 1:50.9 | | | 18.Stavros Mermingis |  Greece | 1:52.9 | | | 20.Jan Willem Boogman | Netherlands | 2:02.2 | | | 21.Markku Taskinen |  Finland | 2:31.6 | |
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| Heat 4 | | time | | | 10.Sebastian Coe | Great Britain | 1:50.5 | Q | | 13.Feliks Wawrzon | Poland | 1:50.8 | Q | | 14.Gabriele Ferrero | Italy | 1:50.9 | | | 14.Reinhard Aechtle | West Germany | 1:50.9 | | | 16.Arie Ruyter | Netherlands | 1:52.0 | | | 19.Roger Milhau | France | 1:54.8 | |
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