| POS | Rank | Heat | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Rafal Wójcik |
POL |
8:24.93 Q PB |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | Brahim Boulami |
MAR |
8:24.95 Q |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | Saad Shaddad Al-Asmari |
KSA |
8:25.23 Q |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | Moses Kiptanui |
KEN |
8:25.80 Q |
| 5 | 5 | 1 | Mark Croghan |
USA |
8:25.95 Q |
| 6 | 4 | 1 | Vladimir Pronin |
RUS |
8:25.95 Q SB |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | Mark Ostendarp |
GER |
8:25.97 Q |
| 8 | 6 | 1 | Alessandro Lambruschini |
ITA |
8:26.35 Q SB |
| 9 | 3 | 2 | Bernard Barmasai |
KEN |
8:26.62 Q |
| 10 | 7 | 1 | Michael Buchleitner |
AUT |
8:26.76 q |
| 11 | 8 | 1 | Florin Ionescu |
ROU |
8:27.39 q |
| 12 | 9 | 1 | Robert Hough |
GBR |
8:28.54 q SB |
| 13 | 10 | 1 | Stathis Stasi |
CYP |
8:28.85 q |
| 14 | 4 | 2 | Simon Vroemen |
NED |
8:28.96 Q |
| 15 | 1 | 3 | Wilson Boit Kipketer |
KEN |
8:29.40 Q |
| 16 | 2 | 3 | Jim Svenøy |
NOR |
8:29.65 Q |
| 17 | 3 | 3 | Hicham Bouaouiche |
MAR |
8:29.67 Q |
| 18 | 4 | 3 | Angelo Carosi |
ITA |
8:29.92 Q |
| 19 | 5 | 3 | Ramiro Morán |
ESP |
8:29.98 Q |
| 20 | 6 | 3 | Marcel Laros |
NED |
8:30.24 Q |
| 21 | 7 | 3 | Wander do Prado Moura |
BRA |
8:30.70 q |
| 22 | 8 | 3 | Adam Dobrzynski |
POL |
8:31.69 q |
| 23 | 11 | 1 | Christopher Unthank |
AUS |
8:32.02 |
| 24 | 5 | 2 | Elarbi Khattabi |
MAR |
8:32.53 Q |
| 25 | 6 | 2 | Thomas Nohilly |
USA |
8:32.70 Q |
| 26 | 7 | 2 | Million Wolde |
ETH |
8:32.77 |
| 27 | 8 | 2 | Abderrahmane Daas |
ALG |
8:33.35 |
| 28 | 9 | 3 | Antonios Vouzis |
GRE |
8:33.51 |
| 29 | 10 | 3 | Stéphane Desaulty |
FRA |
8:33.56 |
| 30 | 9 | 2 | Giuseppe Maffei |
ITA |
8:37.12 |
| 31 | 10 | 2 | VÃtor Almeida |
POR |
8:40.75 |
| 32 | 11 | 2 | Michal Bartoszak |
POL |
8:47.01 |
| 33 | 11 | 3 | Hector Begeo |
PHI |
9:17.82 |