The men's 800 metres event at the 1997 European Athletics U23 Championships was held in Turku, Finland, on 11, 12, and 13 July 1997.
| Gold | Andrea Longo | |
| Silver | André Bucher | |
| Bronze | Grzegorz Krzosek |
13 July
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | align=left | | 1:46.49 | ||||
| align=left | align=left | 1:47.13 | |||||
| align=left | align=left | | 1:47.45 | ||||
| 4 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:47.77 | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:47.98 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | 1:48.49 | ||||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:48.74 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | | 1:49.48 |
12 July
Qualified: first 4 in each to the Final
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | | 1:49.57 | Q | ||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 1:49.62 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 1:49.85 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 1:49.91 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | 1:50.13 | ||||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:50.70 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:51.07 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:52.77 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | | 1:48.49 | Q | ||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | 1:48.80 | Q | |||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 1:48.82 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 1:48.87 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 1:48.91 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:49.69 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | | 1:49.97 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 1:50.82 |
11 July
Qualified: first 4 in each heat and 4 best to the Semifinal
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | | 1:52.71 | Q | ||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 1:52.73 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 1:52.77 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | 1:52.79 | Q | |||
| 5 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:52.79 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:52.89 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:54.47 | |||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 1:54.54 |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | 1:49.36 | Q | |||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 1:49.36 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | 1:49.41 | Q | |||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 1:49.46 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 1:49.70 | q | ||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 1:50.21 | q | ||
| 7 | align=left | align=left | | 1:50.63 | q | ||
| 8 | align=left | align=left | 1:50.76 | q |
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | align=left | align=left | | 1:50.19 | Q | ||
| 2 | align=left | align=left | | 1:50.54 | Q | ||
| 3 | align=left | align=left | | 1:50.74 | Q | ||
| 4 | align=left | align=left | | 1:50.93 | Q | ||
| 5 | align=left | align=left | | 1:51.12 | |||
| 6 | align=left | align=left | | 1:52.97 | |||
| 7 | align=left | align=left |  | 1:53.87 |
According to an unofficial count, 23 athletes from 18 countries participated in the event.
(1) (1) (1) (2) (1) (2) (1) (1) (1) (1) (2) (2) (2)