| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derartu Tulu |  ETH | 30:17.49 CR | 
| 2 | Gete Wami |  ETH | 30:22.48 PB | 
| 3 | Fernanda Ribeiro |  POR | 30:22.88 NR | 
| 4 | Paula Radcliffe |  GBR | 30:26.97 NR | 
| 5 | Tegla Loroupe |  KEN | 30:37.26 SB | 
| 6 | Sonia O'Sullivan |  IRL | 30:53.37 NR | 
| 7 | Ji Li |  CHN | 31:06.94 PB | 
| 8 | Elana Meyer |  RSA | 31:14.70 SB | 
| 9 | Lidiya Grigoryeva |  RUS | 31:21.27 PB | 
| 10 | Yuko Kawakami |  JPN | 31:27.44 | 
| 11 | Olivera Jevtic |  SCG | 31:29.65 NR | 
| 12 | Berhane Adere |  ETH | 31:40.52 | 
| 13 | Lyudmila Biktasheva |  RUS | 31:47.10 | 
| 14 | Alice Jemeli Timbilili |  KEN | 31:50.22 PB | 
| 15 | Chiemi Takahashi |  JPN | 31:52.59 SB | 
| 16 | Libbie Johnson-Hickman |  USA | 31:56.94 SB | 
| 17 | Sally Barsosio |  KEN | 31:57.41 SB | 
| 18 | Asmae Leghzaoui |  MAR | 31:59.21 NR | 
| 19 | Jelena Prokopcuka |  LAT | 32:17.72 | 
| 20 | Harumi Hiroyama-Suzuki |  JPN | 32:24.17 |