| Heat 1 | Team | Time | | 1. Khamis Abdullah Saifeldin | Qat | 8:17.89 SB | | 2. Ezekiel Kemboi | Ken | 8:18.20 | | 3. Bouabdallah Tahri | Fra | 8:18.98 | | 4. Daniel Lincoln | USA | 8:19.62 | | 5. Ali Ezzine | Mor | 8:20.18 | | 6. Eliseo Martin | Spa | 8:21.88 | | 7. Radoslaw Poplawski | Pol | 8:22.16 SB | | 8. Martin Proell | Aut | 8:26.01 | | 9. Ion Luchianov | Mol | 8:26.17 NR | | 10. Bostjan Buc | Slv | 8:37.29 | | 11. Pavel Potapovich | Rus | 8:52.65 | | - Giuseppe Maffei | Ita | DNF | | - Roberto Caraciolo Mandje | Geq | DNS | | - Lotfi Turki | Tun | DNS |
| Middle Time | Athlete | Team | Time | | 1000m | Eliseo Martin | Spa | 2:46.88 | | 2000m | Daniel Lincoln | USA | 5:37.04 |
| | Heat 2 | Team | Time | | 1. Brimin Kipruto | Ken | 8:15.11 | | 2. Simon Vroemen | Ned | 8:15.28 SB | | 3. Luis Miguel Martin | Spa | 8:16.90 | | 4. Mustafa Mohamed | Swe | 8:19.37 | | 5. Vincent Ledauphin | Fra | 8:20.13 | | 6. Jan Zakrzewski | Pol | 8:23.72 | | 7. Roman Usov | Rus | 8:24.19 | | 8. Vadym Slobodenyuk | Ukr | 8:24.84 PB | | 9. Abdelatif Chemlal | Mor | 8:29.36 | | 10. Tewodros Shiferaw | Eth | 8:33.15 | | 11. Abdelhakim Maazouz | Alg | 8:36.12 | | 12. Robert Gary | USA | 8:38.01 | | 13. Ruben Ramolefi | Rsa | 8:46.17 | | 14. Bashir Ibrahim | Kuw | 8:48.65 NR |
| Middle Time | Athlete | Team | Time | | 1000m | Luis Miguel Martin | Spa | 2:42.83 | | 2000m | Luis Miguel Martin | Spa | 5:31.22 |
| | Heat 3 | Team | Time | | 1. Musa Amer | Qat | 8:23.94 | | 2. Antonio David Jimenez | Spa | 8:24.13 | | 3. Paul Kipsiele Koech | Ken | 8:24.68 | | 4. Zouhair Ouerdi | Mor | 8:27.55 | | 5. Justin Chaston | Gbr | 8:28.35 | | 6. Yoshitaka Iwamizu | Jpn | 8:29.07 | | 7. Peter Nowill | Aus | 8:29.14 | | 8. Anthony Famiglietti | USA | 8:31.59 | | 9. Alexander Greaux | Pue | 8:33.62 | | 10. Jim Svenoy | Nor | 8:33.97 | | 11. Manuel Silva | Por | 8:38.31 | | 12. Luleseged Wale | Eth | 8:50.73 | | 13. Jakub Czaja | Pol | 8:56.24 |
| Middle Time | Athlete | Team | Time | | 1000m | Paul Kipsiele Koech | Ken | 2:48.73 | | 2000m | Paul Kipsiele Koech | Ken | 5:40.22 |
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