Final | | time | | 1. Dieter Fromm | East Germany | 1:46.6 | WB | 2. Henryk Szordykowski | Poland | 1:47.1 | | 3. Noel Carroll | Ireland | 1:47.6 | | 4. Robert Adams | Great Britain | 1:49.2 | | 5. Pierre Toussaint | France | 1:50.5 | | 6. Gerd Larsen | Denmark | 1:51.2 | | 7. Jože Međimurec | Yugoslavia | 1:51.9 | | 8. Ján ŀišovský | Czechoslovakia | 1:52.0 | |
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| First 2 from each Heat advanced to Final. |
Heat 1 | | time | | 1. Henryk Szordykowski | Poland | 1:51.0 | Q | 2. Gerd Larsen | Denmark | 1:51.1 | Q | 3. Noel Carroll | Ireland | 1:51.4 | Q | 4. Robert Adams | Great Britain | 1:51.7 | Q | 5. Radovan Piplović | Yugoslavia | 1:54.2 | | 6. Arnd Krüger | West Germany | 1:59.7 | |
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Heat 2 | | time | | 1. Dieter Fromm | East Germany | 1:50.8 | Q | 2. Jože Međimurec | Yugoslavia | 1:51.1 | Q | 3. Ján ŀišovský | Czechoslovakia | 1:51.3 | Q | 4. Pierre Toussaint | France | 1:51.5 | Q | 5. Juan Borraz | Spain | 1:52.0 | | 6. Gilbert Van Manshoven | Belgium | 1:53.0 | |
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