| 1 | Józef Plachý | TCH | 1:50,6 | Q |
| 2 | Ivo van Damme | BEL | 1:50,8 | Q |
| 3 | Reinhold Soyka | FRG | 1:51,7 | q |
| 4 | Erwin Gohlke | GDR | 1:54,3 | |
| 5 | Vladimir Salonezkiy | URS | 1:54,7 | |
| 6 | Waldemar Gondek | POL | 1:55,8 | |
| 7 | Ake Svensson | SWE | 1:57,9 |
| 1 | Vladimir Ponomaryev | URS | 1:51,6 | Q |
| 2 | Gerhard Stolle | GDR | 1:51,9 | Q |
| 3 | Marian Gesicki | POL | 1:51,9 | q |
| 4 | Ladislav Karsky | TCH | 1:52,6 | |
| 5 | Raymond Hoofd | BEL | 1:52,7 | |
| 6 | Krzysztof Linkowski | POL | 1:57,2 |