| 1 | Paul Kosgei | KEN | 8:10,34 | Q | |
| 2 | Ali Ezzine | MAR | 8:10,45 | Q | |
| 3 | Damian Kallabis | GER | 8:10,56 | q | |
| 4 | Günther Weidlinger | AUT | 8:10,83 | q | NR |
| 5 | Bouabdallah Tahri | FRA | 8:12,96 | q | |
| 6 | Florin Ionescu | ROM | 8:13,26 | q | NR |
| 7 | Robert Gary | USA | 8:25,15 | ||
| 8 | Christian Belz | SUI | 8:29,19 | ||
| 9 | Marco Antonio Cepeda | ESP | 8:29,75 | ||
| 10 | João Junqueira | POR | 8:32,12 | ||
| 11 | Rafal Wojcik | POL | 8:34,45 | ||
| 12 | Stathis Stasi | CYP | 8:40,74 | ||
| 13 | Jassim Ali Mohamed Al-Baloushi | UAE | 8:51,73 | ||
| 14 | Elangovan Ganesan | SIN | 9:47,09 |
| 1 | Bernard Barmasai | KEN | 8:16,50 | Q |
| 2 | Wilson Boit Kipketer | KEN | 8:16,62 | Q |
| 3 | Luís Miguel Martin | ESP | 8:17,75 | |
| 4 | Laïd Bessou | ALG | 8:20,17 | |
| 5 | Jim Svenøy | NOR | 8:23,05 | |
| 6 | Mustapha Mellouk | MAR | 8:30,48 | |
| 7 | Maru Daba | ETH | 8:31,09 | |
| 8 | Christian Knoblich | GER | 8:33,03 | |
| 9 | Vincent Le Dauphin | FRA | 8:44,60 | |
| 10 | Francis O'Neill | USA | 8:49,81 | |
| 11 | Geovanny Morejon | BOL | 9:01,30 | |
| 12 | Akesso Tchaka | TOG | 9:44,41 | |
| Simon Vroemen | NED | DNF |
| 1 | Elarbi Khattabi | MAR | 8:14,22 | Q | |
| 2 | Christopher Koskei | KEN | 8:15,04 | Q | |
| 3 | Giuseppe Maffei | ITA | 8:15,19 | q | |
| 4 | Eliseo Martín | ESP | 8:16,56 | q | |
| 5 | Khamis Abdulla Saif Al-Din | QAT | 8:18,58 | NR | |
| 6 | Michael Buchleitner | AUT | 8:20,04 | ||
| 7 | André Green | GER | 8:21,87 | ||
| 8 | Gael Pencreach | FRA | 8:21,89 | ||
| 9 | Nestor Nieves | VEN | 8:28,59 | NR | |
| 10 | Georgios Giannelis | GRE | 8:30,55 | ||
| 11 | Pascal Dobert | USA | 8:33,42 | ||
| 12 | Joël Bourgeois | CAN | 8:37,94 | ||
| 13 | Matteo Zafferani | SMR | 9:32,08 |