| 1 | Yevgeniy Arshanov | URS | 1:50,1 | Q |
| 2 | Franz-Josef Kemper | FRG | 1:50,4 | Q |
| 3 | Andrzej Kupczyk | POL | 1:50,5 | Q |
| 4 | Noel Carroll | IRL | 1:50,6 | q |
| 5 | Joze Medjimurec | YUG | 1:51,3 | q |
| 6 | Dimko Deribeyev | BUL | 1;51,8 |
| 1 | Colin Campbell | GBR | 1:51,7 | Q |
| 2 | Juan Borraz | ESP | 1:51,8 | Q |
| 3 | Sergey Kryuchok | URS | 1:51,9 | Q |
| 4 | Jan Sisovsky | TCH | 1:52,0 | |
| 5 | Nils-Erik Emilsson | SWE | 1:52,6 | |
| 6 | Gilbert van Manshoven | BEL | 1:53,1 |