| P | Athlete | Nation | Points | Results |
| 1 | Thomas Fahner | GDR | 7815 | 11,13 - 7.17 - 13.33 - 2.00 - 49,31 - 15,18 - 42.02 - 4.90 - 62.02 - 4.51,46 |
| 2 | Igor Drobyshevskiy | URS | 7633 PB |
11,22 - 6.71 - 12.11 - 2.15 - 49,09 - 14,96 - 38.88 - 4.50 - 55.94 - 4.32,61 |
| 3 | Andre Preysing | GDR | 7476 PB |
11,43 - 6.98 - 12.58 - 2.06 - 50,23 - 14,96 - 40.82 - 4.80 - 47.46 - 4.43,17 |
| 4 | Stefan Haigis | FRG | 7385 | 11,56 - 7.24 - 13.49 - 1.94 - 51,55 - 15,97 - 41.48 - 4.10 - 65.38 - 4.38,76 |
| 5 | Vladimir Lyovushkin | URS | 7324 v PB |
11,46 - 6.78 - 14.57 - 1.97 - 51,28 - 15,22 - 40.38 - 4.40 - 49.44 - 4.36,97 |
| 6 | Jari Näkki | FIN | 7170 v PB |
11,37 - 6.75 - 12.96 - 1.97 - 52,41 - 15,38 - 39.80 - 4.20 - 64.90 - 5.03,74 |
| 7 | Rene Schmidheiny | SUI | 7134 PB |
11,47 - 6.73 - 13.40 - 1.91 - 51,09 - 15,30 - 42.00 - 4.00 - 55.90 - 4.47,56 |
| 8 | Bengt Järlsjö | SWE | 7070 | 11,57 - 6.29 - 13.51 - 1.91 - 51,45 - 14,99 - 41.90 - 4.30 - 54.70 - 4.53,46 |
| 9 | Alper Kasapoglou | BUL | 7024 PB |
11,15 - 7.24 - 12.15 - 1.94 - 52,19 - 15,60 - 39.12 - 4.20 - 45.92 - 4.49,94 |
| 10 | Glenn Håkansson | SWE | 6898 | 11,69 - 6.60 - 11.92 - 1.82 - 50,85 - 15,99 - 35.66 - 4.40 - 56.58 - 4.34,73 |
| 11 | Cor Troost | NED | 6817 vPB |
11,16 - 6.50 - 12.33 - 1.88 - 50,66 - 15,87 - 38.30 - 3.80 - 49.66 - 4.42,35 |
| 12 | Steve Casey | GBR | 6763 v PB |
11,55 - 6.91 - 12.69 - 1.82 - 51,76 - 15,50 - 41.36 - 3.70 - 48.08 - 4.48,89 |
| 13 | Gernot Kellermayr | AUT | 6711 | 11,28 - 6.90 - 10.58 - 1.82 - 50,62 - 15,69 - 33.86 - 4.00 - 52.56 - 4.50,08 |
| 14 | Michael Arnold | AUT | 6544 v |
11,78 - 6.91 - 10.82 - 1.91 - 53,03 - 15,47 - 32.86 - 3.90 - 56.82 - 5.06,36 |
| 15 | Jan Trefny | SUI | 6467 v |
11,28 - 6.67 - 11.31 - 1.91 - 48,71 - 15,03 - 37.18 - 0 - 45.74 - 4.23,15 |
PB - personal best
v - event with wind >2.0 m/s and <=4.0 m/s and wind average for 3 events <=2.0 m/s
Didn’t finish:
Petri Keskitalo (FIN).
Historical note: Cottbus offered little hint of what awaited Petri Keskitalo a year later. The Finnish teenager was the only decathlon non-finisher here, yet returned to the international junior stage in Athens in 1986 to become the inaugural world junior decathlon champion with 7623 points.