| 1 | Susan Sirma | KEN | 8:46,56 | Q | |
| 2 | Yelena Romanova | URS | 8:46,84 | Q | |
| 3 | Shelly Steely | USA | 8:48,54 | Q | |
| 4 | Roberta Brunet | ITA | 8:51,41 | Q | |
| 5 | Anke Schäning | GER | 8:56,02 | ||
| 6 | Catherina McKiernan | IRL | 9:00,05 | ||
| 7 | Iulia Ionescu | ROM | 9:00,72 | ||
| 8 | Daria Nauer | SUI | 9:05,08 | ||
| 9 | Khin Khin Htwe | MYA | 9:07,34 | NR | |
| 10 | Leah Pells | CAN | 9:10,10 | ||
| 11 | Minori Hayakari | JPN | 9:14,02 | ||
| 12 | Vilma Pena | CRC | 9:54,49 | NR | |
| 13 | Mirna El Hagg | LIB | 11:34,81 |
| 1 | Yvonne Murray | GBR | 9:00,86 | Q | |
| 2 | Lyudmila Borisova | URS | 9:00,94 | Q | |
| 3 | Päivi Tikkanen | FIN | 9:00,98 | Q | |
| 4 | Annette Peters | USA | 9:01,01 | Q | |
| 5 | Derartu Tulu | ETH | 9:01,04 | NR | |
| 6 | Jana Kucerikova | TCH | 9:05,69 | ||
| 7 | Carmen De Oliveira | BRA | 9:09,71 | ||
| 8 | Lijuan Zheng | CHN | 9:17,78 | ||
| 9 | Robyn Meagher | CAN | 9:20,38 | ||
| 10 | Roisin Smyth | IRL | 9:40,13 | ||
| 11 | Ama Amewo | TOG | 11:17,85 | NR | |
| Jane Ngotho | KEN | DNS | |||
| Priscilla Mamba | SWZ | DNS |
| 1 | Gitte Karlshøj | DEN | 8:50,01 | Q | |
| 2 | Marie-Pierre Duros | FRA | 8:50,05 | Q | |
| 3 | Tatyana Samolenko-Dorovskikh | URS | 8:50,39 | Q | |
| 4 | Margareta Keszeg | ROM | 8:50,61 | Q | |
| 5 | Alison Wyeth | GBR | 8:50,69 | q | |
| 6 | Judi St.Hilaire | USA | 8:54,19 | q | |
| 7 | Pauline Konga | KEN | 8:54,67 | q | |
| 8 | Jenny Lund | AUS | 8:57,86 | ||
| 9 | Julia Vaquero | ESP | 8:58,90 | ||
| 10 | Fernanda Ribeiro | POR | 9:01,90 | ||
| 11 | Bigna Samuel | STV | 10:04,96 | ||
| 12 | Ana Isabel Elias | ANO | 10:13,42 | ||
| 13 | Jen Allred | GUM | 10:18,44 | NR | |
| Marie Phoebe Juillet | HAI | DNF |