# Athletics at the 1981 Summer Universiade – Men's 800 metres

The men's 800 metres event at the 1981 Summer Universiade was held at the Stadionul Naţional in Bucharest on 25 and 26 July 1981.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Andreas Hauck East Germany | Sotirios Moutsanas Greece | Pavel Troshilo Soviet Union |

## Results
### Heats

Held on 25 July
| Rank | Heat | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Pavel Troshilo | Soviet Union | 1:48.66 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Saïd Aouita | Morocco | 1:48.90 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Mike White | United States | 1:49.20 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Ryszard Ostrowski | Poland | 1:49.21 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Gabriele Ferrero | Italy | 1:49.24 | q |
| 6 | 5 | Dieter Riebe | West Germany | 1:49.34 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | Mihai Prundeanu | Romania | 1:49.36 | q |
| 8 | 3 | Sotirios Moutsanas | Greece | 1:49.46 | Q |
| 9 | 4 | Bárbaro Serrano | Cuba | 1:49.56 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Ignacio Melesio | Mexico | 1:49.58 | q |
| 11 | 4 | Scott Clark | United States | 1:49.73 | Q |
| 12 | 2 | Kim Bok-joo | South Korea | 1:49.91 | q |
| 13 | 2 | Sun Zhihuai | China | 1:49.95 | |
| 14 | 4 | José María Nombela | Spain | 1:50.04 | |
| 15 | 1 | Andreas Hauck | East Germany | 1:50.27 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | Margarit Valkov | Bulgaria | 1:50.28 | |
| 17 | 1 | Stefano Cecchini | Italy | 1:50.39 | Q |
| 18 | 4 | Manfred Nellesen | West Germany | 1:50.43 | |
| 19 | 1 | Spyros Spyrou | Greece | 1:50.71 | |
| 20 | 6 | Amar Brahmia | Algeria | 1:51.34 | Q |
| 21 | 6 | Nicolae Onescu | Romania | 1:51.45 | Q |
| 21 | 6 | Dragan Životić | Yugoslavia | 1:51.45 | Q |
| 23 | 4 | Peter O'Donoghue | New Zealand | 1:51.70 | |
| 24 | 6 | Félix Mesa | Cuba | 1:51.78 | |
| 25 | 5 | José Luis Esquivel | Mexico | 1:52.07 | |
| 26 | 6 | Leszek Witkowski | Poland | 1:52.13 | |
| 27 | 2 | Mohamed Ayad | Iraq | 1:52.96 | |
| 28 | 6 | Ghislain Obounghat | Congo | 1:53.12 | |
| 29 | 3 | Mohamed Makhlouf | Syria | 1:53.55 | |
| 30 | 6 | Salem Al-Margini | Libya | 1:55.01 | |
| 31 | 2 | Cornelius Pesurnay | Indonesia | 1:56.43 | |
| 32 | 4 | Didier Le Guillou | France | 1:58.49 | |
| 33 | 4 | Edwin Attard | Malta | 2:01.67 | |
| 34 | 5 | Paul Caruana | Malta | 2:02.96 | |
| 35 | 1 | Fadi Rahme | Lebanon | 2:04.80 | |
| 36 | 5 | Mohamed Mabrouk | Libya | 2:16.41 | |
| | ? | Gregor Hagmann | Switzerland | DNF | |

### Semifinals

Held on 26 July
| Rank | Heat | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Pavel Troshilo | Soviet Union | 1:49.06 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Sotirios Moutsanas | Greece | 1:49.21 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Amar Brahmia | Algeria | 1:49.25 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Mike White | United States | 1:49.28 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Saïd Aouita | Morocco | 1:49.35 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Andreas Hauck | East Germany | 1:49.37 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Nicolae Onescu | Romania | 1:49.46 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Mihai Prundeanu | Romania | 1:49.58 | Q |
| 9 | 2 | Dieter Riebe | West Germany | 1:49.77 | |
| 10 | 1 | Scott Clark | United States | 1:49.87 | |
| 11 | 2 | Ignacio Melesio | Mexico | 1:49.94 | |
| 12 | 1 | Bárbaro Serrano | Cuba | 1:50.06 | |
| 13 | 2 | Stefano Cecchini | Italy | 1:50.08 | |
| 14 | 1 | Dragan Životić | Yugoslavia | 1:50.15 | |
| 15 | 1 | Ryszard Ostrowski | Poland | 1:50.58 | |
| 16 | 1 | Gabriele Ferrero | Italy | 1:51.61 | |
| 17 | 2 | Kim Bok-joo | South Korea | 1:53.12 | |

### Final

Held on 26 July
| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time |
| | Andreas Hauck | East Germany | 1:50.12 |
| | Sotirios Moutsanas | Greece | 1:50.20 |
| | Pavel Troshilo | Soviet Union | 1:50.26 |
| 4 | Mike White | United States | 1:50.32 |
| 5 | Amar Brahmia | Algeria | 1:50.46 |
| 6 | Nicolae Onescu | Romania | 1:50.48 |
| 7 | Saïd Aouita | Morocco | 1:50.49 |
| 8 | Mihai Prundeanu | Romania | 1:52.55 |