Men 1500 m
Heat 1
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark | |
| 1 | Pierre Délèze | SUI | 3:42.28 | Q |
| 2 | Sydney Maree | USA | 3:43.13 | Q |
| 3 | Uwe Becker | FRG | 3:43.18 | Q |
| 4 | Ray Flynn | IRL | 3:43.27 | Q |
| 5 | Joao Campos | POR | 3:43.44 | |
| 6 | Kipkoech Cheruiyot | KEN | 3:43.58 | |
| 7 | Nikolay Kirov | URS | 3:43.77 | |
| 8 | Jan Persson | SWE | 3:43.83 | |
| 9 | Dave Reid | CAN | 3:45.08 | |
| 10 | Mohamed Neji Henkiri | TUN | 3:45.90 | |
| 11 | Jama Aden | SOM | 3:46.87 | |
| 12 | Tisbite Rakotoarisoa | MAD | 3:52.91 | |
| 13 | Luis Munguia | NCA | 4:02.06 |
Heat 2
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark | |
| 1 | Steve Cram | GBR | 3:40.17 | Q |
| 2 | Saïd Aouita | MAR | 3:40.39 | Q |
| 3 | Frank O'Mara | IRL | 3:40.53 | Q |
| 4 | John Walker | NZL | 3:40.67 | Q |
| 5 | Piotr Kurek | POL | 3:40.96 | q |
| 6 | Kim HjorthNiels | DEN | 3:41.29 | q |
| 7 | Peter Wirz | SUI | 3:41.69 | |
| 8 | Philippe Dien | FRA | 3:43.15 | |
| 9 | Spyros Spyrou | GRE | 3:43.94 | |
| 10 | Paul Rugut | KEN | 3:46.00 | |
| 11 | Jimmy Igohe | TAN | 3:48.58 | |
| 12 | Charlie Oliver | SOL | 4:18.24 | |
| Mehdi Aidet | ALG | DNS |
Heat 3
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark | |
| 1 | Andreas Busse | GDR | 3:38.65 | Q |
| 2 | Steve Ovett | GBR | 3:39.00 | Q |
| 3 | Dragan Zdravkovic | YUG | 3:39.18 | Q |
| 4 | Jan Kubista | TCH | 3:39.20 | Q |
| 5 | Tom Byers | USA | 3:39.41 | q |
| 6 | Eddy Stevens | BEL | 3:39.77 | q |
| 7 | Stefano Mei | ITA | 3:39.93 | q |
| 8 | José Luís Gonzalez | ESP | 3:41.29 | q |
| 9 | Pascal Thiébaut | FRA | 3:41.51 | |
| 10 | Amar Brahmia | ALG | 3:42.75 | |
| 11 | Omer Khalifa | SUD | 3:48.23 | |
| 12 | John Chappory | GIB | 3:56.92 | |
| 13 | Jean-Marie Rudasinqwa | RWA | 3:57.49 |
Heat 4
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark | |
| 1 | Steve Scott | USA | 3:37.87 | Q |
| 2 | José Manuel Abascal | ESP | 3:38.06 | Q |
| 3 | Claudio Patrignani | ITA | 3:38.35 | Q |
| 4 | Graham Williamson | GBR | 3:38.99 | Q |
| 5 | Abderrahmane Morceli | ALG | 3:39.77 | q |
| 6 | Robert Nemeth | AUT | 3:39.93 | q |
| 7 | Mike Boit | KEN | 3:40.06 | q |
| 8 | Antti Loikkanen | FIN | 3:44.47 | |
| 9 | Sermet Timurlenk | TUR | 3:46.74 | |
| 10 | Mohammed Darwish | IRQ | 3:50.04 | |
| 11 | Ibrahim Malallah | QAT | 3:52.05 | |
| 12 | Masini Situ-Kubanza | COD | 4:06.44 | |
| 13 | Sekou Camara | GUI | 4:08.46 |
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark | |
| 1 | Steve Scott | USA | 3:36.43 | Q |
| 2 | Saïd Aouita | MAR | 3:36.43 | Q |
| 3 | Jan Kubista | TCH | 3:37.12 | Q |
| 4 | Uwe Becker | FRG | 3:37.27 | Q |
| 5 | Andreas Busse | GDR | 3:37.54 | q |
| 6 | José Luís Gonzalez | ESP | 3:38.77 | |
| 7 | Kim HjorthNiels | DEN | 3:39.75 | |
| 8 | Abderrahmane Morceli | ALG | 3:39.88 | |
| 9 | Stefano Mei | ITA | 3:41.78 | |
| 10 | Graham Williamson | GBR | 3:45.84 | |
| 11 | Frank O'Mara | IRL | 3:47.10 | |
| Robert Nemeth | AUT | DNF |
Heat 2
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark | |
| 1 | Steve Cram | GBR | 3:35.77 | Q |
| 2 | Steve Ovett | GBR | 3:36.26 | Q |
| 3 | José Manuel Abascal | ESP | 3:36.35 | Q |
| 4 | Pierre Délèze | SUI | 3:36.37 | Q |
| 5 | John Walker | NZL | 3:36.52 | q |
| 6 | Dragan Zdravkovic | YUG | 3:37.31 | q |
| 7 | Mike Boit | KEN | 3:37.75 | q |
| 8 | Claudio Patrignani | ITA | 3:38.36 | |
| 9 | Sydney Maree | USA | 3:38.65 | |
| 10 | Piotr Kurek | POL | 3:39.54 | |
| 11 | Ray Flynn | IRL | 3:40.26 | |
| 12 | Eddy Stevens | BEL | 3:42.63 | |
| 13 | Tom Byers | USA | 3:43.97 |
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark |
| 1 | Steve Cram | GBR | 3:41.59 |
| 2 | Steve Scott | USA | 3:41.87 |
| 3 | Saïd Aouita | MAR | 3:42.02 |
| 4 | Steve Ovett | GBR | 3:42.34 |
| 5 | José Manuel Abascal | ESP | 3:42.47 |
| 6 | Pierre Délèze | SUI | 3:43.69 |
| 7 | Andreas Busse | GDR | 3:43.72 |
| 8 | Dragan Zdravkovic | YUG | 3:43.75 |
| 9 | John Walker | NZL | 3:44.24 |
| 10 | Jan Kubista | TCH | 3:44.30 |
| 11 | Uwe Becker | FRG | 3:45.09 |
| 12 | Mike Boit | KEN | 3:46.46 |
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark | |
| 1 | Ravilya Agletdinova-Kotovich | URS | 4:10.71 | Q |
| 2 | Ivana Kleinova-Walterova-Kubesova | TCH | 4:10.82 | Q |
| 3 | Brit Lind-Petersen-McRoberts | CAN | 4:10.88 | Q |
| 4 | Christiane Wartenberg | GDR | 4:10.89 | |
| 5 | Totka Petrova | BUL | 4:12.31 | |
| 6 | Cindy Bremser | USA | 4:14.10 | |
| 7 | Kriscia Garcia | ESA | 4:40.21 | |
| 8 | Bigna Samuel | STV | 4:51.35 | |
| 9 | Kungu Bakombo | COD | 4:54.12 |
Heat 2
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark | |
| 1 | Mary Decker-Slaney | USA | 4:07.47 | Q |
| 2 | Zamira Zaitseva | URS | 4:07.64 | Q |
| 3 | Wendy Smith-Sly | GBR | 4:08.16 | Q |
| 4 | Cornelia Bürki | SUI | 4:08.61 | q |
| 5 | Maria Radu | ROM | 4:10.15 | q |
| 6 | Marcianne Mukamurenzi | RWA | 4:30.58 | |
| 7 | Vivian Pearson | MAW | 5:03.70 | |
| Aurora Cunha | POR | DNS |
Heat 3
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark | |
| 1 | Yekaterina Podkopayeva | URS | 4:09.39 | Q |
| 2 | Gabriella Dorio | ITA | 4:09.45 | Q |
| 3 | Doina Melinte | ROM | 4:09.71 | Q |
| 4 | Christina Boxer-Cahill | GBR | 4:09.88 | q |
| 5 | Betty van Steenbroeck | BEL | 4:12.93 | |
| 6 | Marjo-Riitta Lakka | FIN | 4:22.33 | |
| 7 | Hala El Moughrabi | SYR | 4:45.62 | |
| 8 | Khadija Al Matari | JOR | 5:01.83 | |
| Brigitte Kraus | FRG | DNS |
| Pos | Athlete | NOC | Mark |
| 1 | Mary Decker-Slaney | USA | 4:00.90 |
| 2 | Zamira Zaitseva | URS | 4:01.19 |
| 3 | Yekaterina Podkopayeva | URS | 4:02.25 |
| 4 | Ravilya Agletdinova-Kotovich | URS | 4:02.67 |
| 5 | Wendy Smith-Sly | GBR | 4:04.14 |
| 6 | Doina Melinte | ROM | 4:04.42 |
| 7 | Gabriella Dorio | ITA | 4:04.73 |
| 8 | Brit Lind-Petersen-McRoberts | CAN | 4:05.73 |
| 9 | Christina Boxer-Cahill | GBR | 4:06.74 |
| 10 | Cornelia Bürki | SUI | 4:11.61 |
| 11 | Ivana Kleinova-Walterova-Kubesova | TCH | 4:15.12 |
| 12 | Maria Radu | ROM | 4:19.03 |
| SEO | [PR] !uO z[y[WJ Cu | ||
