| Venue: Empire Stadium, London. |
| Final | time | | +time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Mal Whitfield |  USA | 1:49.2 | OR | | 1:49.3 | 23 | | 2. Arthur Wint |  JAM | 1:49.5 | | +0.28 | | 28 | | 3. Marcel Hansenne |  FRA | 1:49.8 | | +0.78 | | 31 | | 4. Herb Barten | USA | 1:50.1 | | +1.04 | | 20 | | 5. Ingvar Bengtsson |  SWE | 1:50.5 | | +1.56 | | 26 | | 6. Bob Chambers | USA | 1:52.1 | | +2.82 | | 21 | | 7. Robert Chef d'Hôtel | FRA | 1:53.0 | | +4.89 | | 26 | | 8. John Parlett |  GBR | 1:53.4 | | +6.97 | | 23 | | 9. Niels Holst-Sørensen |  DEN | 1:54.0 | | +7.06 | | 25 |
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| | | First 3 from each 3 semi-finals progressed to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | +time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Marcel Hansenne | FRA | 1:50.5 | | 1:50.6 | 31 | | 2. Mal Whitfield | USA | 1:50.7 | +0.29 | | 23 | | 3. John Parlett | GBR | 1:50.9 | +0.30 | | 23 | | 4. Jack Hutchins |  CAN | 1:52.6 | +2.15 | | 22 | | 5. Joseph Brys |  BEL | 1:53.2 | +2.74 | | 21 | | 6. Josy Barthel |  LUX | 1:54.6 | +4.18 | | 21 | | 7. Bjørn Vade |  NOR | | +4.79 | | 26 | | -. Karl Volkmer |  SUI | DNF | | | 26 |
| Semi 2 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Ingvar Bengtsson | SWE | 1:51.2 | 1:51.3 | 26 | | 2. Arthur Wint | JAM | 1:52.7 | | 28 | | 3. Bob Chambers | USA | 1:52.9 | | 21 | | 4. Gaston Mayordome | FRA | 1:54.3 | | 25 | | 5. Bill Ramsay |  AUS | 1:54.9 | | | | 6. Winter Václav |  TCH | 1:57.7 | | 23 | | -. Harry Tarraway | GBR | DNF | | 23 | | -. Doug Harris |  NZL | DNF | | 29 |
| Semi 3 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Herb Barten | USA | 1:51.7 | 1:52.0 | 20 | | 2. Robert Chef d'Hôtel | FRA | 1:52.0 | | 26 | | 3. Niels Holst-Sørensen | DEN | 1:52.4 | | 25 | | 4. Olle Ljunggren | SWE | 1:52.5 | | 27 | | 5. Tom White | GBR | 1:53.0 | | 30 | | 6. Frits de Ruijter |  NED | 1:54.6 | | 31 | | 7. Raymond Rosier | BEL | | | 24 | | -. Hans Streuli | SUI | DNF | | |
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| Heat 1 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Marcel Hansenne | FRA | 1:54.6 | 1:54.8 | 31 | | 2. John Parlett | GBR | 1:55.0 | | 23 | | 3. Bill Ramsay | AUS | 1:55.0 | | | | 4. Karl Volkmer | SUI | 1:55.3 | | 26 | | 5. Adán Torres |  ARG | 1:56.7 | | 24 | | 6. Lee Yun-Seok |  KOR | 2:01.4 | | | | 7. Rashid Khadr |  EGY | | | |
| Heat 2 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Herb Barten | USA | 1:55.6 | 1:55.8 | 20 | | 2. Doug Harris | NZL | 1:56.6 | | 29 | | 3. Tom White | GBR | 1:56.6 | | 30 | | 4. Raymond Rosier | BEL | 1:56.7 | | 24 | | 5. Vasilios Mavroidis |  GRE | 1:57.4 | | 21 | | 6. Antero Mongrut |  PER | 1:58.7 | | | | 7. Cahit Önel |  TUR | | | 20 | | -. Herluf Christensen | DEN | DNF | | 23 |
| Heat 3 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Niels Holst-Sørensen | DEN | 1:54.2 | 1:54.4 | 25 | | 2. Bjørn Vade | NOR | 1:54.2 | | 26 | | 3. Bob Chambers | USA | 1:54.3 | | 21 | | 4. Joseph Brys | BEL | 1:55.4 | | 21 | | 5. Óskar Jónsson |  ISL | 1:55.4 | | 23 | | 6. Bill Parnell | CAN | 1:55.7 | | 20 | | 7. Juan Adarraga |  ESP | 1:55.7 | | 24 |
| Heat 4 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Arthur Wint | JAM | 1:53.9 | 1:54.0 | 28 | | 2. Frits de Ruijter | NED | 1:54.4 | | 31 | | 3. Josy Barthel | LUX | 1:54.8 | | 21 | | 4. Winter Václav | TCH | 1:55.1 | | 23 | | 5. Ezra Henniger | CAN | 1:55.4 | | 20 | | 6. Wilfred Tull |  TTO | 1:55.7 | | 30 | | 7. Seydi Dinçtürk | TUR | | | |
| Heat 5 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Olle Ljunggren | SWE | 1:56.1 | 1:56.2 | 27 | | 2. Robert Chef d'Hôtel | FRA | 1:56.2 | | 26 | | 3. Hans Streuli | SUI | 1:56.5 | | | | 4. Harry Tarraway | GBR | 1:56.6 | | 23 | | 5. Guillermo Avalos | ARG | 1:56.6 | | | | 6. Maksut İşman Rıza | TUR | 2:01.1 | | 34 | | 7. Georgios Karageorgos | GRE | | | 33 |
| Heat 6 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Mal Whitfield | USA | 1:52.8 | 1:52.8 | 23 | | 2. Ingvar Bengtsson | SWE | 1:52.9 | | 26 | | 3. Jack Hutchins | CAN | 1:55.5 | | 22 | | 4. Gaston Mayordome | FRA | 1:55.7 | | 25 | | 5. Stylianos Stratakos | GRE | 2:02.2 | | 33 |
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