| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elena Fidatov |  ROU | 15:36.39 Q | 
| 2 | Olga Churbanova |  RUS | 15:37.23 Q | 
| 3 | Gina Procaccio |  USA | 15:37.66 Q | 
| 4 | Florence Barsosio |  KEN | 15:38.22 Q | 
| 5 | Päivi Tikkanen |  FIN | 15:38.25 | 
| 6 | Atsumi Yashima |  JPN | 15:40.02 | 
| 7 | Rosario Murcia |  FRA | 15:41.73 | 
| 8 | Nina Christiansen |  DEN | 15:44.66 | 
| 9 | Brynhild Synstnes |  NOR | 15:46.17 | 
| 10 | Adriana Fernández |  MEX | 15:46.89 | 
| 11 | Milka Mikhaylova |  BUL | 15:49.31 | 
| 12 | Tamara Koba |  UKR | 15:53.67 | 
| 13 | Martha Ernstsdóttir |  ISL | 16:05.33 | 
| 14 | Marina Bastos |  POR | 16:16.78 | 
| Alison Wyeth |  GBR | DNF | |
| Derartu Tulu |  ETH | DNS | |
| Elana Meyer |  RSA | DNS | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sonia O'Sullivan |  IRL | 15:13.88 Q | 
| 2 | Gabriela Szabo |  ROU | 15:14.65 Q | 
| 3 | Mariya Konovalova |  RUS | 15:14.70 Q | 
| 4 | Paula Radcliffe |  GBR | 15:14.77 Q | 
| 5 | Sara Wedlund |  SWE | 15:15.67 q | 
| 6 | Sally Barsosio |  KEN | 15:18.41 q | 
| 7 | Michiko Shimizu |  JPN | 15:18.97 q | 
| 8 | Silvia Sommaggio |  ITA | 15:20.89 | 
| 9 | Ana Dias |  POR | 15:29.32 | 
| 10 | Serap Aktas |  TUR | 15:53.76 | 
| 11 | Libbie Johnson-Hickman |  USA | 15:54.97 | 
| 12 | Anne Cross |  AUS | 16:09.32 | 
| Monika Schäfer |  GER | DNF | |
| Zhaoxia Dong |  CHN | DNF | |
| Hilde Stavik |  NOR | DNF | |
| Marleen Renders |  BEL | DNS | |
| Gete Wami |  ETH | DNS | 
| POS | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rose Cheruiyot |  KEN | 15:21.36 Q | 
| 2 | Zahra Ouaziz |  MAR | 15:22.02 Q | 
| 3 | Fernanda Ribeiro |  POR | 15:22.04 Q | 
| 4 | Gwen Griffiths-van Lingen |  RSA | 15:32.22 Q | 
| 5 | Anne-Marie Danneels |  BEL | 15:33.70 | 
| 6 | Chiemi Takahashi |  JPN | 15:35.13 | 
| 7 | Carolyn Schuwalow |  AUS | 15:37.62 | 
| 8 | Gitte Karlshøj |  DEN | 15:39.12 | 
| 9 | Luchia Yishak |  ETH | 15:42.37 | 
| 10 | Laura Mykytok |  USA | 15:48.95 | 
| 11 | Andrea Karhoff |  GER | 16:02.26 | 
| 12 | Ursula Spielmann-Jeitziner |  SUI | 16:12.57 | 
| 13 | Sinead Evans |  IRL | 16:18.61 | 
| 14 | Marie-Pierre Duros |  FRA | 16:48.66 | 
| 15 | Mirsada Buric-Adam |  BIH | 17:07.44 | 
| Viktoriya Nenasheva |  RUS | DNF | |
| Gunhild Halle-Haugen |  NOR | DNF |