| Final 18:40 | time | | | 1. Steve Ovett | Great Britain | 3:35.59 | Cr | | 2. Eamonn Coghlan | Ireland | 3:36.57 | | | 3. David Moorcroft | Great Britain | 3:36.70 | | | 4. Thomas Wessinghage | West Germany | 3:37.19 | | | 5. Antti Loikkanen | Finland | 3:37.54 | | | 6. José Marajo | France | 3:38.20 | | | 7. Straub Jürgen | East Germany | 3:38.88 | | | 8. John Robson | Great Britain | 3:39.6 | | | 9. Olaf Beyer | East Germany | 3:39.7 | | | 10.Francis Gonzalez | France | 3:40.1 | | | 11.Rolf Gysin | Switzerland | 3:41.0 | | | 12.Jozef Plachý | Czechoslovakia | 3:42.2 | |
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| Venue: Stadion Evžena Rošického | | History Men 1500m |
| 34 athletes from 19 countries. | | Austria | 2) | Belgium | 1) | Czechoslovakia | 1) | | East Germany | 3) | Finland | 2) | France | 3) | | Greece | 1) | Iceland | 1) | Ireland | 2) | | Liechtenstein | 1) | Luxembourg | 1) | Netherlands | 1) | | Soviet Union | 3) | Spain | 1) | Sweden | 2) | | Switzerland | 3) | Turkey | 1) | Great Britain | 3) | | West Germany | 2) |
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Heats - Friday 01.09 19:05 | | First 3 and Best 3 progress to Final. |
| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Eamonn Coghlan | Ireland | 3:39.98 | Q | | 2. David Moorcroft | Great Britain | 3:40.0 | Q | | 3. Olaf Beyer | East Germany | 3:40.1 | Q | | 4. Thomas Wessinghage | West Germany | 3:40.1 | q | | 5. José Marajo | France | 3:40.6 | q | | 6. Valeriy Abramov | Soviet Union | 3:40.9 | | | 7. Bernhard Vifian | Switzerland | 3:42.5 | | | 8. Robert Nemeth | Austria | 3:44.1 | | | 9. Ari Paunonen | Finland | 3:45.0 | | | 10.José Manuel Abascal | Spain | 3:47.6 | | | 11.Marcel Pierrard | Luxembourg | 3:52.8 | | | -. Klaas Lok | Netherlands | DNF | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Steve Ovett | Great Britain | 3:42.94 | Q | | 2. Straub Jürgen | East Germany | 3:43.1 | Q | | 3. Rolf Gysin | Switzerland | 3:43.2 | Q | | 4. Marc Nevens | Belgium | 3:43.2 | | | 5. Ray Flynn | Ireland | 3:44.1 | | | 6. Dietmar Millonig | Austria | 3:44.8 | | | 7. Vladimir Sheronov | Soviet Union | 3:45.1 | | | 8. Hasler Günther | Liechtenstein | 3:46.7 | | | 9. Philippe Dien | France | 3:47.4 | | | 10.Björn Nilsson | Sweden | 3:47.9 | | | 11.Jón Didriksson | Iceland | 3:48.1 | |
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| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Antti Loikkanen | Finland | 3:39.66 | Q | | 2. John Robson | Great Britain | 3:40.0 | Q | | 3. Francis Gonzalez | France | 3:40.4 | Q | | 4. Jozef Plachý | Czechoslovakia | 3:40.6 | q | | 5. Pierre Délèze | Switzerland | 3:40.7 | | | 6. Ruth Günther | East Germany | 3:41.4 | | | 7. Lars Ericsson | Sweden | 3:42.5 | | | 8. Valeriy Toropov | Soviet Union | 3:45.1 | | | 9. Sermet Timurlenk | Turkey | 3:45.8 | | | 10.Fotios Kourtis | Greece | 3:45.9 | | | -. Karl Fleschen | West Germany | DNF | |
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