| POS | Rank | Heat | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS | ms* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | AUS | Australia |
AUS |
2:57.30 WQ WL | |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | BOT | Botswana |
BOT |
2:57.52 WQ SB | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | RSA | South Africa |
RSA |
2:58.04 WQ SB | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | NED | Netherlands |
NED |
2:58.22 Wq SB | |
| 5 | 2 | 2 | POR | Portugal |
POR |
2:59.01 WQ NR | .002 |
| 6 | 3 | 2 | ZIM | Zimbabwe |
ZIM |
2:59.01 Wq NR | .009 |
| 7 | 4 | 1 | BRA | Brazil |
BRA |
2:59.59 SB | |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | QAT | Qatar |
QAT |
2:59.83 WQ NR | .830 |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | BEL | Belgium |
BEL |
2:59.83 WQ SB | .830 |
| 10 | 4 | 2 | GER | Germany |
GER |
3:00.04 SB | |
| 11 | 3 | 3 | ESP | Spain |
ESP |
3:00.26 NR | |
| 12 | 4 | 3 | IND | India |
IND |
3:00.32 SB | |
| 13 | 5 | 1 | JAM | Jamaica |
JAM |
3:00.48 SB | |
| 14 | 5 | 3 | JPN | Japan |
JPN |
3:00.79 SB | |
| 15 | 6 | 1 | NGR | Nigeria |
NGR |
3:01.04 SB | |
| 16 | 5 | 2 | SEN | Senegal |
SEN |
3:01.13 SB | |
| 17 | 6 | 3 | SUI | Switzerland |
SUI |
3:01.18 NR | |
| 18 | 7 | 3 | GBR | Great Britain & NI |
GBR |
3:01.22 SB | |
| 19 | 6 | 2 | KEN | Kenya |
KEN |
3:02.70 | |
| 20 | 7 | 1 | DEN | Denmark |
DEN |
3:05.33 SB | |
| 21 | 8 | 1 | POL | Poland |
POL |
3:05.47 SB | |
| 22 | 8 | 3 | MEX | Mexico |
MEX |
3:13.60 | |
| 2 | CHN | PR of China |
CHN |
DNF |
ms - Milliseconds - shown when two or more competitors finish with the same time down to hundredths of a second