| Final | | time | | | 1. Emiel Puttemans |  Belgium | 7:44.51 | | | 2. Willy Polleunis | Belgium | 7:51.86 | | | 3. Pekka Päivärinta |  Finland | 7:52.97 | NR | | 4. Egbert Nijstadt |  Netherlands | 7:54.60 | NR | | 5. Gert Eisenberg |  East Germany | 7:55.09 | | | 6. Vladimir Zatonskiy |  Soviet Union | 7:55.12 | | | 7. Hartmut Bräuer |  West Germany | 8:02.20 | | | 8. Bronisław Malinowski |  Poland | 8:07.08 | |
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Heats - Saturday, 10th March | | First 3 from each Heat and next Best 2 advanced to Final. |
| Heat 1 | | time | | | 1. Emiel Puttemans | Belgium | 7:51.02 | Q | | 2. Gert Eisenberg | East Germany | 7:52.54 | Q | | 3. Pekka Päivärinta | Finland | 7:53.68 | Q, NR | | 4. Hartmut Bräuer | West Germany | 7:55.18 | q | | 5. Bronisław Malinowski | Poland | 7:55.73 | q, NR | | 6. Minivassik Abdulin | Soviet Union | 7:56.82 | | | 7. Jos Hermens | Netherlands | 7:59.02 | | | 12.Werner Meier |  Switzerland | 8:02.60 | | | 14.John van der Wansem | Netherlands | 8:05.07 | | | 19.Willi Maier | West Germany | 8:11.84 | |
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| Heat 2 | | time | | | 8. Willy Polleunis | Belgium | 7:59.69 | Q | | 9. Egbert Nijstadt | Netherlands | 8:00.29 | Q | | 10.Vladimir Zatonskiy | Soviet Union | 8:00.74 | Q | | 11.Mikko Ala-Leppilampi | Finland | 8:02.04 | | | 13.Hans-Dieter Schulten | West Germany | 8:03.93 | | | 15.Antonio Burgos |  Spain | 8:05.82 | | | 16.Josef Jánský |  Czechoslovakia | 8:06.78 | | | 17.Mikhail Zhelev |  Bulgaria | 8:09.06 | | | 18.Jürgen Haase | East Germany | 8:09.32 | | | 20.André Ornelis | Belgium | 8:14.35 | | | 21.Michel Louette |  France | 8:27.41 | |
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