| Final | time | | | 1. Joaquim Cruz |  Brazil | 1:43.00 | OR | | | 2. Sebastian Coe |  Great Britain | 1:43.64 | | | 3. Earl Jones |  United States | 1:43.83 | | | 4. Billy Konchellah |  Kenya | 1:44.03 | | | 5. Donato Sabia |  Italy | 1:44.53 | | | 6. Edwin Koech | Kenya | 1:44.86 | | | 7. Johnny Gray | United States | 1:47.89 | | | 8. Steve Ovett | Great Britain | 1:52.28 | |
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| | | Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 100,000. -- competitors from -- nations. |
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| | | First 4 from each Semi advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | | | 1. Joaquim Cruz | Brazil | 1:43.82 | Q | | 2. Edwin Koech | Kenya | 1:44.12 | Q | | 3. Earl Jones | United States | 1:44.51 | Q | | 4. Steve Ovett | Great Britain | 1:44.81 | Q | | 5. Omar Khalifa |  Sudan | 1:44.87 | | | 6. Moussa Fall |  Senegal | 1:45.03 | | | 7. William Wuycke |  Venezuela | 1:47.32 | | | -. Peter Elliott | Great Britain | DNF | |
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| Semi 2 | time | | | 1. Sebastian Coe | Great Britain | 1:45.51 | Q | | 2. Billy Konchellah | Kenya | 1:45.67 | Q | | 3. Johnny Gray | United States | 1:45.82 | Q | | 4. Donato Sabia | Italy | 1:45.96 | Q | | 5. Hans-Peter Ferner |  West Germany | 1:46.16 | | | 6. Agberto Guimarães | Brazil | 1:46.65 | | | 7. Juma Ndiwa | Kenya | 1:48.06 | | | 8. José Luiz Barbosa | Brazil | 1:48.70 | |
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| Quarter 1 | time | | | 1. Edwin Koech | Kenya | 1:44.74 | Q | | 2. Donato Sabia | Italy | 1:44.90 | Q | | 3. Agberto Guimarães | Brazil | 1:45.18 | Q | | 4. Peter Elliott | Great Britain | 1:45.49 | Q | | 5. Faouzi Lahbi |  Morocco | 1:45.67 | | | 6. Babacar Niang | Senegal | 1:45.71 | | | 7. Sotirios Moutsanas |  Greece | 1:46.34 | | | -. Colomán Trabado |  Spain | DNF | |
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| Quarter 2 | time | | | 1. Billy Konchellah | Kenya | 1:46.15 | Q | | 2. Omar Khalifa | Sudan | 1:46.33 | Q | | 3. Sebastian Coe | Great Britain | 1:46.75 | Q | | 4. José Luiz Barbosa | Brazil | 1:46.87 | Q | | 5. John Marshall | United States | 1:47.18 | | | 6. Riccardo Materazzi | Italy | 1:47.90 | | | 7. Ahmed Belkessam |  Algeria | 1:48.11 | | | 8. Marco Mayr |  Switzerland | 1:48.30 | |
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| Quarter 3 | time | | | 1. Joaquim Cruz | Brazil | 1:44.84 | Q | | 2. Steve Ovett | Great Britain | 1:45.72 | Q | | 3. Johnny Gray | United States | 1:45.82 | Q | | 4. William Wuycke | Venezuela | 1:46.17 | Q | | 5. Abdi Bile |  Somalia | 1:46.49 | | | 6. Owen Hamilton |  Jamaica | 1:46.74 | | | 7. Pat Scammel |  Australia | 1:47.90 | | | 8. Bruce Roberts |  Canada | 1:49.72 | |
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| Quarter 4 | time | | | 1. Earl Jones | United States | 1:45.44 | Q | | 2. Hans-Peter Ferner | West Germany | 1:45.52 | Q | | 3. Juma Ndiwa | Kenya | 1:45.59 | Q | | 4. Moussa Fall | Senegal | 1:45.71 | Q | | 5. Mohamed Alouini |  Tunisia | 1:45.78 | | | 6. Marcus O'Sullivan |  Ireland | 1:46.21 | | | 7. Oslen Barr |  Guyana | 1:46.97 | | | 8. Philippe Dupont |  France | 1:48.95 | |
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