| 1 | Tonino Viali | ITA | 1:49,06 | Q |
| 2 | Ikem Billy | GBR | 1:49,28 | Q |
| 3 | Stanley Redwine | USA | 1:49,57 | Q |
| 4 | Rob Druppers | NED | 1:49,70 | |
| 5 | Joachim Heydgen | FRG | 1:49,71 | |
| Pablo Squella | CHI | DNS |
| 1 | José Luis Barbosa | BRA | 1:46,79 | Q |
| 2 | Paul Ereng | KEN | 1:47,11 | Q |
| 3 | Ray Brown | USA | 1:47,24 | Q |
| 4 | Andrey Sudnik | URS | 1:49,01 | |
| 5 | Steven Heard | GBR | 1:50,75 | |
| 6 | William Wuyke | VEN | 1:53,52 |