| | | 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 |  | 
 |  | | 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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