| Final 17:45 | time | | | 1. John Woodruff |  United States | 1:52.9 | | | 2. Mario Lanzi |  Italy | 1:53.3 | | | 3. Phil Edwards |  Canada | 1:53.6 | | | 4. Kazimierz Kucharski |  Poland | 1:53.8 | | | 5. Chuck Hornbostel | United States | 1:54.6 | | | 6. Harry Williamson | United States | 1:55.8 | | | 7. Juan Carlos Anderson |  Argentina | Unknown | | | 8. Gerald Backhouse |  Australia | Unknown | | | 9. Brian MacCabe |  Great Britain | Unknown | |
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| | | Venue: Olympiastadion, Charlottenburg, Berlin. Capp.: 100,000. -- competitors from -- nations. |
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| | | First 3 from each Semi advanced to Final |
| Semi 1 | time | | | 1. John Woodruff | United States | 1:52.7 | Q | | 2. Kazimierz Kucharski | Poland | 1:54.7 | Q | | 3. Juan Carlos Anderson | Argentina | 1:54.8 | Q | | 4. Miklós Szabó |  Hungary | 1:55.1 | | | 5. Wolfgang Dessecker |  Germany | 1:55.3 | | | 6. Franz Eichberger |  Austria | 1:56.2 | | | 7. Pat Boot |  New Zealand | Unknown | | | 8. Frank Handley | Great Britain | Unknown | |
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| Semi 2 | time | | | 1. Harry Williamson | United States | 1:53.1 | Q | | 2. Gerald Backhouse | Australia | 1:53.2 | Q | | 3. Phil Edwards | Canada | 1:53.2 | Q | | 4. Jack Powell | Great Britain | 1:54.8 | | | 5. Ewald Mertens | Germany | 1:54.9 | | | 6. René Soulier |  France | 1:56.8 | | | 7. Emil Hübscher | Austria | Unknown | | | 8. József Vadas | Hungary | Unknown | |
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| Semi 3 | time | | | 1. Chuck Hornbostel | United States | 1:53.2 | Q | | 2. Mario Lanzi | Italy | 1:54.1 | Q | | 3. Brian MacCabe | Great Britain | 1:55.4 | Q | | 4. Raymond Petit | France | 1:55.7 | | | 5. Ab Conway | Canada | 1:55.9 | | | 6. Hjalmar Johannessen |  Norway | 1:56.0 | | | 7. Ferenc Temesvári | Hungary | Unknown | | | 8. Jean Verhaert |  Belgium | Unknown | |
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| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Phil Edwards | Canada | 1:53.7 | Q | | 2. Chuck Hornbostel | United States | 1:53.7 | Q | | 3. Jean Verhaert | Belgium | 1:54.3 | Q | | 4. Ferenc Temesvári | Hungary | 1:55.0 | Q | | 5. Pierre Hemmer |  Luxembourg | 1:56.3 | | | 6. Rudolf Harbig | Germany | 1:56.8 | | | 7. Francisco Váldez |  Peru | Unknown | | | 8. Stavros Velkopoulos |  Greece | Unknown | | | —. Erik Wennberg |  Sweden | DNS | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Harry Williamson | United States | 1:56.2 | Q | | 2. Ab Conway | Canada | 1:56.2 | Q | | 3. Pat Boot | New Zealand | 1:56.6 | Q | | 4. Emil Hübscher | Austria | 1:57.3 | Q | | 5. Emil Goršek |  Yugoslavia | 1:59.5 | | | 6. Carlos Marcenaro | Peru | 2:00.8 | | | —. Abu Al-Yazid El-Halawani |  Egypt | DNS | | | -. René Morel | France | DNS | | | -. Ossi Teileri |  Finland | DNS | |
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| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Brian MacCabe | Great Britain | 1:54.5 | Q | | 2. Raymond Petit | France | 1:54.8 | Q | | 3. Hjalmar Johannessen | Norway | 1:54.9 | Q | | 4. Ewald Mertens | Germany | 1:55.1 | Q | | 5. Clarke Scholtz |  South Africa | 1:57.6 | | | 6. Toshinao Tomie |  Japan | 1:59.9 | | | 7. Stanislav Otáhal |  Czechoslovakia | Unknown | | | 8. Gyan Bhalla |  India | Unknown | | | —. Fritz Sollberger |  Switzerland | DNS | |
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| Heat 4 | time | | | 1. Gerald Backhouse | Australia | 1:57.7 | Q | | 2. Miklós Szabó | Hungary | 1:57.8 | Q | | 3. John Woodruff | United States | 1:58.7 | Q | | 4. Frank Handley | Great Britain | 1:58.9 | Q | | 5. Evžen Rošický | Czechoslovakia | 1:59.5 | | | 6. Paul Martin | Switzerland | 2:00.0 | | | 7. Charles Stein | Luxembourg | Unknown | | | —. Francisc Nemeș |  Romania | DNS | | | -. Eric Ny | Sweden | DNS | |
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| Heat 5 | time | | | 1. Jack Powell | Great Britain | 1:56.0 | Q | | 2. Mario Lanzi | Italy | 1:56.1 | Q | | 3. Franz Eichberger | Austria | 1:56.3 | Q | | 4. Vadas József | Hungary | 1:56.5 | Q | | 5. Willie Botha | South Africa | 1:57.0 | | | 6. Grigorios Georgakopoulos | Greece | 1:57.3 | | | 7. Jack Liddle | Canada | Unknown | | | —. Miguel Castro |  Chile | DNS | | | -. Luis Pratsmasó |  Spain | DNS | |
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| Heat 6 | time | | | 1. Juan Carlos Anderson | Argentina | 1:55.1 | Q | | 2. Kazimierz Kucharski | Poland | 1:55.7 | Q | | 3. Wolfgang Dessecker | Germany | 1:56.0 | Q | | 4. René Soulier | France | 1:56.1 | Q | | 5. William Lindeque | South Africa | 1:56.4 | | | 6. Kumao Aochi | Japan | 1:56.8 | | | —. Jia Lianren |  Rep. China | DNS | | | -. Karlo Nikhazi | Yugoslavia | DNS | | | -. Enrique Piferrer | Spain | DNS | |
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