| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Sang |  KEN | 8:24.49 Q | 
| 2 | Azzedine Brahmi |  ALG | 8:24.73 Q | 
| 3 | Abdelaziz Sahere |  MAR | 8:24.89 Q | 
| 4 | Michael Buchleitner |  AUT | 8:24.92 Q | 
| 5 | Shaun Creighton |  AUS | 8:25.29 q | 
| 6 | Tom Buckner |  GBR | 8:27.26 | 
| 7 | Vladimir Pronin |  RUS | 8:32.26 | 
| 8 | Kim Bauermeister |  GER | 8:37.41 | 
| 9 | Wander do Prado Moura |  BRA | 8:46.03 | 
| 10 | Brian Diemer |  USA | 9:01.88 | 
| 11 | Davendra Prakash Singh |  FIJ | 9:21.15 | 
| Antonio Peula |  ESP | DNS | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Kiprotich Birir |  KEN | 8:23.11 Q | 
| 2 | Steffen Brand |  GER | 8:23.27 Q | 
| 3 | Elarbi Khattabi |  MAR | 8:23.57 Q | 
| 4 | Alessandro Lambruschini |  ITA | 8:25.46 Q | 
| 5 | Marc Davis |  USA | 8:26.49 q | 
| 6 | Colin Walker |  GBR | 8:36.22 | 
| 7 | Bezunen Yae Tura |  ETH | 8:37.13 | 
| 8 | Thierry Brusseau |  FRA | 8:39.82 | 
| 9 | Akira Nakamura |  JPN | 8:48.89 | 
| 10 | Eduardo Henriques |  POR | 8:57.21 | 
| Gustavo Castillo |  MEX | DNF | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moses Kiptanui |  KEN | 8:19.08 Q | 
| 2 | Mark Croghan |  USA | 8:19.14 Q | 
| 3 | Angelo Carosi |  ITA | 8:19.66 Q | 
| 4 | Martin Strege |  GER | 8:21.24 Q | 
| 5 | Tom Hanlon |  GBR | 8:23.16 q | 
| 6 | Ricardo Vera |  URU | 8:23.65 q | 
| 7 | João Junqueira |  POR | 8:28.39 | 
| 8 | Jim Svenøy |  NOR | 8:29.34 | 
| 9 | Ville Hautala |  FIN | 8:32.49 | 
| 10 | Saad Shaddad Al-Asmari |  KSA | 8:35.06 | 
| 11 | Whaddon Niewoudt |  RSA | 8:36.40 |