| Final 18:40 | time |   |  | 1. Steve Ovett |   Great Britain | 3:35.59 | Cr |  | 2. Eamonn Coghlan |   Ireland | 3:36.57 |   |  | 3. David Moorcroft |   Great Britain | 3:36.70 |   |  | 4. Thomas Wessinghage |   West Germany | 3:37.19 |   |  | 5. Antti Loikkanen |   Finland | 3:37.54 |   |  | 6. José Marajo |   France | 3:38.20 |   |  | 7. Straub Jürgen |   East Germany | 3:38.88 |   |  | 8. John Robson |   Great Britain | 3:39.6 |   |  | 9. Olaf Beyer |   East Germany | 3:39.7 |   |  | 10.Francis Gonzalez |   France | 3:40.1 |   |  | 11.Rolf Gysin |   Switzerland | 3:41.0 |   |  | 12.Jozef Plachý |   Czechoslovakia | 3:42.2 |   |   
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| Venue: Stadion Evžena Rošického |  | History Men 1500m  |   
|  34 athletes from 19 countries. |  | Austria | 2) | Belgium | 1) | Czechoslovakia | 1) |  | East Germany | 3) | Finland | 2) | France | 3) |  | Greece | 1) | Iceland | 1) | Ireland | 2) |  | Liechtenstein | 1) | Luxembourg | 1) | Netherlands | 1) |  | Soviet Union | 3) | Spain | 1) | Sweden | 2) |  | Switzerland | 3) | Turkey | 1) | Great Britain | 3) |  | West Germany | 2) |   
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 Heats - Friday 01.09 19:05 |  | First 3 and Best 3 progress to Final. |   
| Heat 1 | time |   |  | 1. Eamonn Coghlan |   Ireland | 3:39.98 | Q |  | 2. David Moorcroft |   Great Britain | 3:40.0 | Q |  | 3. Olaf Beyer |   East Germany | 3:40.1 | Q |  | 4. Thomas Wessinghage |   West Germany | 3:40.1 | q |  | 5. José Marajo |   France | 3:40.6 | q |  | 6. Valeriy Abramov |   Soviet Union | 3:40.9 |   |  | 7. Bernhard Vifian |   Switzerland | 3:42.5 |   |  | 8. Robert Nemeth |   Austria | 3:44.1 |   |  | 9. Ari Paunonen |   Finland | 3:45.0 |   |  | 10.José Manuel Abascal |   Spain | 3:47.6 |   |  | 11.Marcel Pierrard |   Luxembourg | 3:52.8 |   |  | -. Klaas Lok |   Netherlands | DNF |   |   
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| Heat 2 | time |   |  | 1. Steve Ovett |   Great Britain | 3:42.94 | Q |  | 2. Straub Jürgen |   East Germany | 3:43.1 | Q |  | 3. Rolf Gysin |   Switzerland | 3:43.2 | Q |  | 4. Marc Nevens |   Belgium | 3:43.2 |   |  | 5. Ray Flynn |   Ireland | 3:44.1 |   |  | 6. Dietmar Millonig |   Austria | 3:44.8 |   |  | 7. Vladimir Sheronov |   Soviet Union | 3:45.1 |   |  | 8. Hasler Günther |   Liechtenstein | 3:46.7 |   |  | 9. Philippe Dien |   France | 3:47.4 |   |  | 10.Björn Nilsson |   Sweden | 3:47.9 |   |  | 11.Jón Didriksson |   Iceland | 3:48.1 |   |   
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| Heat 3 | time |   |  | 1. Antti Loikkanen |   Finland | 3:39.66 | Q |  | 2. John Robson |   Great Britain | 3:40.0 | Q |  | 3. Francis Gonzalez |   France | 3:40.4 | Q |  | 4. Jozef Plachý |   Czechoslovakia | 3:40.6 | q |  | 5. Pierre Délèze |   Switzerland | 3:40.7 |   |  | 6. Ruth Günther |   East Germany | 3:41.4 |   |  | 7. Lars Ericsson |   Sweden | 3:42.5 |   |  | 8. Valeriy Toropov |   Soviet Union | 3:45.1 |   |  | 9. Sermet Timurlenk |   Turkey | 3:45.8 |   |  | 10.Fotios Kourtis |   Greece | 3:45.9 |   |  | -. Karl Fleschen |   West Germany | DNF |   |   
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