| POS | Rank | Heat | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2 | Berhane Adere |
ETH |
32:05.29 Q SB |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | Fernanda Ribeiro |
POR |
32:05.65 Q |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | Sally Barsosio |
KEN |
32:05.68 Q SB |
| 4 | 4 | 2 | Gete Wami |
ETH |
32:05.73 Q |
| 5 | 5 | 2 | Masako Chiba |
JPN |
32:05.76 Q |
| 6 | 6 | 2 | Siju Yang |
CHN |
32:06.12 Q SB |
| 7 | 7 | 2 | Colleen De Reuck |
RSA |
32:09.56 Q |
| 8 | 8 | 2 | Hiromi Masuda |
JPN |
32:11.63 Q |
| 9 | 9 | 2 | Julia Vaquero |
ESP |
32:12.25 q |
| 10 | 10 | 2 | Annette Hand |
USA |
32:14.08 q |
| 11 | 11 | 2 | Chantal Dällenbach |
FRA |
32:49.40 q |
| 12 | 12 | 2 | Marleen Renders |
BEL |
33:02.37 q |
| 13 | 1 | 1 | Nora Leticia Rocha |
MEX |
33:07.09 Q |
| 14 | 2 | 1 | Annmari Kiekara |
FIN |
33:07.50 Q |
| 15 | 3 | 1 | Xiujuan Ren |
CHN |
33:08.12 Q SB |
| 16 | 4 | 1 | Silvia Sommaggio |
ITA |
33:08.19 Q |
| 17 | 5 | 1 | Tegla Loroupe |
KEN |
33:08.20 Q |
| 18 | 6 | 1 | Chiemi Takahashi |
JPN |
33:08.26 Q |
| 19 | 7 | 1 | Zahia Dahmani |
FRA |
33:08.68 Q |
| 20 | 8 | 1 | Elana Meyer |
RSA |
33:09.70 Q |
| 21 | 13 | 2 | Helena Sampaio |
POR |
33:14.85 |
| 22 | 9 | 1 | HrisostomÃa Iakóvou |
GRE |
33:14.86 |
| 23 | 10 | 1 | Olivera Jevtic |
SCG |
33:18.42 |
| 24 | 11 | 1 | Derartu Tulu |
ETH |
33:25.99 |
| 25 | 14 | 2 | Adriana Fernández |
MEX |
33:40.09 |
| 26 | 15 | 2 | Kylie Risk |
AUS |
33:56.48 SB |
| 27 | 12 | 1 | Gwyn Coogan |
USA |
34:06.34 |
| 28 | 16 | 2 | Maysa Matrood |
IRQ |
35:44.93 NR |
| 29 | 13 | 1 | Yvonne Danson |
SGP |
37:19.51 |
| 30 | 14 | 1 | Esperanza Obono Ela |
GEQ |
45:13.69 |
| 31 | 1 | Marina Bastos |
POR |
DNF | |
| 32 | 1 | Nyla Carroll |
NZL |
DNF |