Heats

Qualification: First 3 of each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	3	Jackson Kivuva	Kenya	1:50.28	Q
2	4	Asbel Kiprop	Kenya	1:50.32	Q
3	3	Onalenna Baloyi	Botswana	1:50.48	Q
4	3	Samson Ngoepe	South Africa	1:50.48	Q
5	3	Saïd Doulal	Morocco	1:50.52	q
6	4	Shiferaw Wola	Ethiopia	1:50.64	Q
7	4	Abdalla Abdelgadir	Sudan	1:51.56	Q
8	4	Mahamoud Farah	Djibouti	1:51.71	q
9	1	Ismail Ahmed Ismail	Sudan	1:52.72	Q
10	1	Eshetu Zewde	Ethiopia	1:52.80	Q
11	2	David Rudisha	Kenya	1:52.93	Q
12	2	Henok Legesse	Ethiopia	1:53.22	Q
13	1	Severin Sahinkuye	Burundi	1:53.81	Q
14	2	Jimmy Adar	Uganda	1:53.89	Q
15	1	Bakary Jabbi	Gambia	1:56.12	q
16	2	Joseph Nzirorera	Rwanda	1:58.04	q
17	4	Abdalla Mohamed Hussein	Somalia	2:00.22
18	3	Mohamed Ahmed Omar	Somalia	2:04.19
19	3	Brahim Ouaddai	Chad	2:05.96
20	2	Alseny Conde	Guinea	2:07.59
	1	Abdoulaye Wagne	Senegal	DNS
	4	Mboyo Iyeli	Democratic Republic of the Congo	DNS

Semifinals

Qualification: First 3 of each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified for the final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Asbel Kiprop	Kenya	1:48.35	Q
2	2	David Rudisha	Kenya	1:48.82	Q
3	1	Shiferaw Wola	Ethiopia	1:48.99	Q
4	1	Ismail Ahmed Ismail	Sudan	1:49.01	Q
5	2	Jackson Kivuva	Kenya	1:49.03	Q
6	2	Henok Legesse	Ethiopia	1:49.03	Q
7	2	Abdalla Abdelgadir	Sudan	1:49.15	q
8	2	Samson Ngoepe	South Africa	1:49.69	q
9	2	Eshetu Zewde	Ethiopia	1:49.92
10	1	Onalenna Baloyi	Botswana	1:49.94
11	1	Jimmy Adar	Uganda	1:51.13
12	1	Mahamoud Farah	Djibouti	1:51.39
13	1	Joseph Nzirorera	Rwanda	1:52.31
14	1	Severin Sahinkuye	Burundi	1:52.64
15	2	Saïd Doulal	Morocco	1:57.42
	2	Bakary Jabbi	Gambia	DNS

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	David Rudisha	Kenya	1:44.20	CR
	Ismail Ahmed Ismail	Sudan	1:45.41
	Asbel Kiprop	Kenya	1:46.02
4	Jackson Kivuva	Kenya	1:46.33
5	Shiferaw Wola	Ethiopia	1:48.37
6	Henok Legesse	Ethiopia	1:49.10
7	Samson Ngoepe	South Africa	1:49.22
8	Abdalla Abdelgadir	Sudan	1:52.98