| Final | | time | | | 1. Luis Javier González |  Spain | 1:46.80 | | | 2. José Arconada | Spain | 1:47.16 | PB | | 3. Tonino Viali |  Italy | 1:47.22 | | | 4. Martin Steele |  Great Britain | 1:47.23 | | | 5. Anatoliy Makarevich |  Unified Team | 1:47.83 | | | 6. Brian Whittle | Great Britain | 1:56.13 | |
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| | First 3 from each Semi advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | | time | | | 1. Tonino Viali | Italy | 1:46.47 | Q | | 2. Brian Whittle | Great Britain | 1:46.57 | Q | | 3. Luis Javier González | Spain | 1:46.62 | Q | | 4. Mark Eplinius |  Germany | 1:46.63 | | | 5. Peter Braun | Germany | 1:47.19 | PB | | 13.Andrew Lill | Great Britain | 1:48.98 | |
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| Semi 2 | | time | | | 6. Anatoliy Makarevich | Unified Team | 1:47.51 | Q | | 7. Martin Steele | Great Britain | 1:47.57 | Q | | 8. José Arconada | Spain | 1:47.60 | Q | | 9. Václav Hrích |  Czechoslovakia | 1:47.71 | | | 10.Andrea Benvenuti | Italy | 1:48.52 | | | 11.Leon Haan |  Netherlands | 1:48.71 | | | 12.Mike Kemsies | Germany | 1:48.93 | |
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| | | First 2 from each Heat and next Best 5 times advanced to Semi-Finals. |
| Heat 1 | | time | | | 1. Tonino Viali | Italy | 1:48.21 | Q | | 2. José Arconada | Spain | 1:48.30 | Q | | 3. Andrew Lill | Great Britain | 1:48.38 | q | | 9. Peter Braun | Germany | 1:49.43 | q | | 12.Rafko Marinič |  Slovenia | 1:49.98 | | | 13.Declan Kennedy |  Ireland | 1:50.33 | |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | | 7. Luis Javier González | Spain | 1:49.00 | Q | | 8. Martin Steele | Great Britain | 1:49.23 | Q | | 10.Anatoliy Makarevich | Unified Team | 1:49.50 | q | | 11.Leon Haan | Netherlands | 1:49.55 | q | | 20.António Abrantes |  Portugal | 1:51.36 | | | 23.Davide Cadoni | Italy | 1:56.43 | |
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| Heat 3 | | time | | | 4. Mark Eplinius | Germany | 1:48.67 | Q | | 5. Brian Whittle | Great Britain | 1:48.79 | Q | | 6. Václav Hrích | Czechoslovakia | 1:48.80 | q | | 14.Ari Suhonen |  Finland | 1:50.75 | | | 15.Oscar Terol | Netherlands | 1:50.84 | | | 16.Slobodan Mijolović |  Croatia | 1:50.97 | |
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| Heat 4 | | time | | | 17.Andrea Benvenuti | Italy | 1:51.02 | Q | | 18.Mike Kemsies | Germany | 1:51.05 | Q | | 19.Martin Enholm |  Sweden | 1:51.15 | | | 21.Miroslav Chochkov |  Bulgaria | 1:51.51 | | | 22.Pavel Soukup | Czechoslovakia | 1:51.53 | |
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