| POS | Rank | Heat | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | Antonio Fabián Silio |
ARG |
28:16.62 Q |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | Haile Gebrselassie |
ETH |
28:17.95 Q |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | Moses Tanui |
KEN |
28:18.56 Q |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | Richard Chelimo |
KEN |
28:18.70 Q |
| 5 | 5 | 1 | Boay Akonay |
TAN |
28:18.97 Q |
| 6 | 6 | 1 | Stéphane Franke |
GER |
28:19.11 Q |
| 7 | 7 | 1 | Francesco Panetta |
ITA |
28:20.49 Q |
| 8 | 8 | 1 | Gérman Silva |
MEX |
28:22.16 Q |
| 9 | 9 | 1 | José Carlos Adán |
ESP |
28:23.08 q |
| 10 | 1 | 2 | Salvatore Antibo |
ITA |
28:27.48 Q |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | Fita Bayisa |
ETH |
28:28.32 Q |
| 12 | 3 | 2 | William Sigei |
KEN |
28:28.33 Q |
| 13 | 4 | 2 | Todd Williams |
USA |
28:28.62 Q |
| 14 | 5 | 2 | Dan Nelson |
USA |
28:28.76 Q |
| 15 | 6 | 2 | Alois Nisigama |
BDI |
28:29.18 Q |
| 16 | 7 | 2 | Tadashi Fukushima |
JPN |
28:29.49 Q |
| 17 | 8 | 2 | Oleg Strizhakov |
RUS |
28:29.84 Q |
| 18 | 9 | 2 | Antonio Serrano |
ESP |
28:31.48 q |
| 19 | 10 | 2 | Armando Quintanilla |
MEX |
28:34.57 q |
| 20 | 11 | 2 | Rolando Vera |
ECU |
28:35.45 q |
| 21 | 10 | 1 | Steve Plasencia |
USA |
28:40.69 |
| 22 | 12 | 2 | Martin Pitayo |
MEX |
28:54.23 |
| 23 | 13 | 2 | Tendai Chimusasa |
ZIM |
28:57.68 |
| 24 | 11 | 1 | Fackson Nkandu |
ZAM |
29:03.67 |
| 25 | 14 | 2 | LuÃs Jesús |
POR |
29:12.00 |
| 26 | 15 | 2 | Jun Hiratsuka |
JPN |
29:12.22 |
| 27 | 12 | 1 | Steve Moneghetti |
AUS |
29:21.18 |
| 28 | 13 | 1 | Domingos Castro |
POR |
29:35.47 |
| 29 | 14 | 1 | Nozomi Saho |
JPN |
29:36.40 |
| 30 | 16 | 2 | Murusamy Ramachandran |
MAS |
29:38.97 |
| 31 | 15 | 1 | John Mwathiwa |
MAW |
29:45.55 |
| 32 | 17 | 2 | Thein Win Gopal |
MYA |
29:56.61 |
| 1 | Zoltán Káldy |
HUN |
DNF | ||
| 1 | Mohamed Moosa Ahmed |
PLE |
DNF | ||
| 1 | José Regalo |
POR |
DNF | ||
| 2 | Mathias Ntawulikura |
RWA |
DNS |