| POS | Rank | Heat | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | United States |  USA | 2:57.77 Q SB | |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | Botswana |  BOT | 2:58.33 Q AR | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | Poland |  POL | 2:58.55 Q SB | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | Trinidad and Tobago |  TTO | 2:58.60 Q SB | |
| 5 | 4 | 1 | Italy |  ITA | 2:58.91 q NR | |
| 6 | 5 | 1 | Netherlands |  NED | 2:59.06 q NR | |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | Jamaica |  JAM | 2:59.29 Q SB | |
| 8 | 3 | 2 | Belgium |  BEL | 2:59.37 Q SB | |
| 9 | 4 | 2 | India |  IND | 3:00.25 AR | |
| 10 | 5 | 2 | Japan |  JPN | 3:00.76 =NR | |
| 11 | 6 | 2 | France |  FRA | 3:00.81 PB | |
| 12 | 7 | 2 | South Africa |  RSA | 3:01.18 SB | |
| 13 | 8 | 2 | Colombia |  COL | 3:03.20 SB | |
| 14 | 6 | 1 | Great Britain & NI |  GBR | 3:03.29 SB | |
| 15 | 7 | 1 | Czech Republic |  CZE | 3:03.61 | |
| 16 | 8 | 1 | Germany |  GER | 3:03.62 |