| POS | Rank | Heat | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS | ms* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | RSA | South Africa |
RSA |
3:00.00 WQ WL | |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | FRA | France |
FRA |
3:00.30 WQ SB | |
| 3 | 2 | 4 | KEN | Kenya |
KEN |
3:00.88 WQ | |
| 4 | 1 | 2 | BOT | Botswana |
BOT |
3:01.23 WQ SB | .221 |
| 5 | 3 | 4 | USA | United States |
USA |
3:01.23 SB | .223 |
| 6 | 1 | 3 | BEL | Belgium |
BEL |
3:01.35 WQ SB | |
| 7 | 2 | 3 | GBR | Great Britain & NI |
GBR |
3:01.38 WQ SB | |
| 8 | 2 | 2 | POR | Portugal |
POR |
3:01.78 WQ NR | |
| 9 | 2 | 1 | CHN | PR of China |
CHN |
3:01.87 WQ NR | |
| 10 | 3 | 1 | ESP | Spain |
ESP |
3:02.04 SB | |
| 11 | 3 | 2 | BRA | Brazil |
BRA |
3:02.19 SB | |
| 12 | 4 | 4 | POL | Poland |
POL |
3:02.69 SB | |
| 13 | 4 | 2 | NED | Netherlands |
NED |
3:02.94 SB | |
| 14 | 4 | 1 | JAM | Jamaica |
JAM |
3:03.54 SB | |
| 15 | 5 | 4 | IND | India |
IND |
3:03.92 SB | |
| 16 | 3 | 3 | QAT | Qatar |
QAT |
3:03.97 SB | |
| 17 | 4 | 3 | ITA | Italy |
ITA |
3:04.01 SB | |
| 18 | 5 | 2 | ZAM | Zambia |
ZAM |
3:04.83 SB | |
| 19 | 5 | 3 | SEN | Senegal |
SEN |
3:05.37 SB | |
| 20 | 6 | 2 | IRL | Ireland |
IRL |
3:05.47 SB | |
| 21 | 6 | 4 | ZIM | Zimbabwe |
ZIM |
3:05.65 | |
| 22 | 6 | 3 | MEX | Mexico |
MEX |
3:05.74 | |
| 23 | 5 | 1 | GER | Germany |
GER |
3:06.26 SB | |
| 24 | 6 | 1 | AUS | Australia |
AUS |
3:06.32 |
ms - Milliseconds - shown when two or more competitors finish with the same time down to hundredths of a second