| Final | time | | | 1. Olaf Beyer |  East Germany | 1:43.84 | Cr | | 2. Steve Ovett |  Great Britain | 1:44.09 | | | 3. Sebastian Coe | Great Britain | 1:44.76 | | | 4. Anatoliy Reshetnyak |  Soviet Union | 1:45.79 | | | 5. Vladimir Podolyako | Soviet Union | 1:46.24 | | | 6. Andreas Busse | East Germany | 1:47.1 | | | 7. Dragan Životić |  Yugoslavia | 1:47.4 | | | 8. José Marajo |  France | 1:53.4 | |
|
| Venue: Stadion Evžena Rošického | | History Men 800m |
|
Semi-Finals - Wednesday 30.08 18:00 | | First 4 progress to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | | | 1. Sebastian Coe | Great Britain | 1:47.44 | Q | | 2. Andreas Busse | East Germany | 1:47.6 | Q | | 3. José Marajo | France | 1:47.7 | Q | | 4. Vladimir Podolyako | Soviet Union | 1:47.8 | Q | | 5. Markku Taskinen |  Finland | 1:47.9 | | | 6. Uwe Becker |  West Germany | 1:48.2 | | | 7. Detlef Wagenknecht | East Germany | 1:48.5 | | | 8. Arno Körmeling |  Netherlands | 1:49.2 | |
|
|
| Semi 2 | time | | | 1. Steve Ovett | Great Britain | 1:46.51 | Q | | 2. Olaf Beyer | East Germany | 1:46.74 | Q | | 3. Dragan Životić | Yugoslavia | 1:46.94 | Q | | 4. Anatoliy Reshetnyak | Soviet Union | 1:47.2 | Q | | 5. Hans-Peter Ferner | West Germany | 1:47.4 | | | 6. Sermet Timurlenk |  Turkey | 1:47.9 | | | 7. Roger Milhau | France | 1:48.9 | | | 8. Hasler Günther |  Liechtenstein | 1:49.3 | |
|
| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Steve Ovett | Great Britain | 1:47.80 | Q | | 2. Hans-Peter Ferner | West Germany | 1:48.1 | Q | | 3. Markku Taskinen | Finland | 1:48.3 | Q | | 4. Detlef Wagenknecht | East Germany | 1:48.4 | q | | 5. Vladimir Malozemlin | Soviet Union | 1:48.6 | | | 6. Carlo Grippo |  Italy | 1:48.6 | |
|
|
| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Olaf Beyer | East Germany | 1:47.72 | Q | | 2. Arno Körmeling | Netherlands | 1:48.1 | Q | | 3. Hasler Günther | Liechtenstein | 1:48.5 | Q | | 4. Justin Gloden |  Luxembourg | 1:49.0 | | | 5. Peter Hoffmann | Great Britain | 1:49.3 | |
|
| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Andreas Busse | East Germany | 1:49.08 | Q | | 2. José Marajo | France | 1:49.4 | Q | | 3. Anatoliy Reshetnyak | Soviet Union | 1:49.5 | Q | | 4. Milovan Savić | Yugoslavia | 1:50.0 | | | 5. Milan Timko |  Czechoslovakia | 1:50.5 | | | 6. Panagiotis Pallikaris |  Greece | 1:51.6 | |
|
|
| Heat 4 | time | | | 1. Sebastian Coe | Great Britain | 1:46.82 | Q | | 2. Roger Milhau | France | 1:47.07 | Q | | 3. Uwe Becker | West Germany | 1:47.13 | Q | | 4. Dragan Životić | Yugoslavia | 1:47.18 | q | | 5. Vladimir Podolyako | Soviet Union | 1:47.19 | q | | 6. Sermet Timurlenk | Turkey | 1:47.23 | q | | 7. Didriksson Jón |  Iceland | 1:50.4 | |
|
| 
