| Final | | time | | gap | L | 100m | | 1. Hans Fassnacht |  West Germany | 1:55.2 | ER | | 4 | 57.1s 2. | | 2. Gunnar Larsson |  Sweden | 1.55.7 | NR | 0.5s | 5 | 56.9s 1. | | 3. Georgijs Kuļikovs |  Soviet Union | 1:56.6 | NR | 1.4s | 3 | 57.4s 4. | | 4. Michel Rousseau |  France | 1:57.0 | NR | 1.8s | 7 | 57.1s 2. | | 5. Lutz Unger |  East Germany | 1:57.4 | NR | 2.2s | 2 | 57.4s 4. | | 6. Vlagyimir Bure | Soviet Union | 1:58.5 | | 3.3s | 6 | 57.6s 6. | | 7. Zbigniew Pacelt |  Poland | 2:00.1 | | 4.9s | 8 | 58.5s 7. | | 8. Marian Slavic |  Románia | 2:00.7 | | 5.3s | 1 | 58.6s 8. | | 1. Gunnar Larsson | Sweden | 2:09.3 | WR | | 4 | | 2. Mathias Pechmann | East Germany | 2:13.6 | | 4.3s | 5 | | 3. Hans Ljungberg | Sweden | 2:14.3 | | 5.0s | 3 | | 4. Mihail Szuharev | Soviet Union | 2:15.0 | | 5.7s | 2 | | 5. Michael Holthaus | West Germany | 2:15.1 | | 5.8s | 7 | | 6. Michele D'Oppido |  Italy | 2:15.3 | NR | 6.0s | 1 | | 7. Vlagyimir Kravcsenko | Soviet Union | 2:16.0 | | 6.7s | 6 | | 8. Csinger Márton |  Hungary | 2:17.6 | | 8.3s | 8 |
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| World Record: | | European Record: |
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Heats - , --th September | | Best 8 times advanced to Final>. |
| Heat 4 | | time | | | 1. Hans Fassnacht | West Germany | 1:56.4 | Q, ER | | 7. Marian Slavic | Romania | 1:59.5 | Q, NR | | 11.Császári Attila | Hungary | 2:00.4 | | | 13.Bengt Gingsjö | Sweden | 2:00.7 | | | 17.Pano Capéronis |  Switzerland | 2:02.5 | NR | | 21.Gilles Vigne | France | 2:06.1 | | | 22.Planitzer Günther |  Austria | 2:06.2 | |
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| Heat 3 | | time | | | 2. Gunnar Larsson | Sweden | 1:57.0 | Q, ECR, NR | | 6. Michel Rousseau | France | 1:59.4 | Q | | 8. Zbigniew Pacelt | Poland | 2:00.0 | Q, NR | | 15.Madsen Ørjan |  Norway | 2:01.2 | NR | | 19.Roberto Pangaro | Italy | 2:03.4 | | | 24.Antti Nikula |  Finland | 2:06.8 | | | 1. Gunnar Larsson | Sweden | 2:13.7 | Q, ECR | | 2. Mathias Pechmann | East Germany | 2:14.0 | Q | | 5. Mihail Szuharev | Soviet Union | 2:14.9 | Q | | 9. Raymond Terrell |  Great Britain | 2:18.2 | | | 14.Angel Csakarov |  Bulgaria | 2:19.4 | NR | | 17.José Ferrero |  Spain | 2:20.5 | | | 20.Alain Baudin | Switzerland | 2:25.9 | |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | | 3. Georgijs Kuļikovs | Soviet Union | 1:57.2 | Q, ECR | | 5. Lutz Unger | East Germany | 1:59.0 | Q | | 9. Jorge Comas | Spain | 2:00.2 | NR | | 12.Gerhard Schiller | West Germany | 2:00.5 | | | 18.José Pujol | Spain | 2:02.6 | | | 23.Alain Baudini | Switzerland | 2:06.4 | | | 3. Hans Ljungberg | Sweden | 2:14.2 | Q, ECR | | 6. Michael Holthaus | West Germany | 2:15.8 | Q | | 7. Michele D'Oppido | Italy | 2:16.4 | Q | | 13.Thomas Aretz | West Germany | 2:19.0 | | | 15.Gudmunður Gíslason |  Iceland | 2:19.6 | NR | | 18.Jacek Krawzyk | Poland | 2:21.8 | |
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| Heat 1 | | time | | | 4. Vlagyimir Bure | Soviet Union | 1:58.5 | Q, ECR | | 10.Jochen Herbst | East Germany | 2:00.3 | | | 14.Fabrizio Nardini | Italy | 2:01.1 | | | 16.Michael Bailey | Great Britain | 2:02.4 | | | 19.Malcolm Windeatt | Great Britain | 2:03.4 | | | 25.Konsztantinosz Koszkinasz |  Greece | 2:10.7 | | | 4. Vlagyimir Kravcsenko | Soviet Union | 2:14.3 | Q, ECR | | 8. Csinger Márton | Hungary | 2:18.1 | Q | | 9. Szentirmay István | Hungary | 2:18.2 | | | 11.Zbigniew Pacelt | Poland | 2:18.4 | | | 12.Jung Günther | East Germany | 2:18.9 | | | 16.Antonio Culebras | Spain | 2:20.3 | | | 19.Planitzer Günther | Austria | 2:24.8 | |
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