| Final | time | | +time | Y | | 1. Gaston Reiff |  BEL | 14:17.6 | OR | | 27 | | 2. Emil Zátopek |  TCH | 14:17.8 | | +0.26 | 25 | | 3. Wim Slijkhuis |  NED | 14:26.8 | | | 25 | | 4. Erik Ahldén |  SWE | 14:28.6 | | | 24 | | 5. Bertil Albertsson | SWE | 14:39.0 | | | 26 | | 6. Curt Stone |  USA | 14:39.4 | | | 25 | | 7. Koskela Väinö |  FIN | 14:41.0 | | | 27 | | 8. Väinö Mäkelä | FIN | 14:43.0 | | | 26 | | 9. Marcel Vandewattyne | BEL | &s | | | 24 | | 10.Martin Stokken |  NOR | &s | | | 25 | | 11.Helge Perälä | FIN | &s | | | 33 | | -. Evert Nyberg | SWE | &s | | | 23 |
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| | Venue: Empire Stadium, London. |
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Heats- Saturday 31.07 | | First 4 from each 3 heats progressed to Final. |
| Heat 1 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Evert Nyberg | SWE | 14:58.2 | | 23 | | 2. Koskela Väinö | FIN | 14:58.3 | | 27 | | 3. Curt Stone | USA | 14:58.6 | | 25 | | 4. Marcel Vandewattyne | BEL | 15:14.0 | | 24 | | 5. Jacques Vernier |  FRA | 15:29.8 | | 25 | | 6. Harry Nelson |  NZL | 15:34.4 | | 25 | | 7. Jef Lataster | NED | 15:39.0 | | 25 | | 8. Jack Braughton |  GBR | | | 27 | | 9. Cliff Salmond |  CAN | 16:05,0 | | | | 10.Manny Ramjohn |  TTO | | | 31 | | -. Aage Poulsen |  DEN | DNF | | 29 | | -. John Joe Barry |  IRL | DNF | | 22 |
| Heat 2 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Erik Ahldén | SWE | 14:34.2 | 14:34.9 | 24 | | 2. Emil Zátopek | TCH | 14:34.4 | +0.04 | 25 | | 3. Väinö Mäkelä | FIN | 14:45.8 | | 26 | | 4. Martin Stokken | NOR | 15:04.4 | | 25 | | 5. Maurice Pouzieux | FRA | 15:09.8 | | 27 | | 6. Gregorio Rojo |  ESP | 15:19.0 | | 28 | | 7. Bill Lucas | GBR | | | 31 | | 8. Luo Wenao |  CHN | | | | | 9. Vasilios Mavrapostolos |  GRE | | | 32 | | 10.Sim Bok-Seok |  KOR | | | | | -. Mustafa Özcan |  TUR | DNF | | | | -. Clarence Robison | USA | DNF | | 25 |
| Heat 3 | time | +time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Wim Slijkhuis | NED | 15:06.8 | | 15:06.8 | 25 | | 2. Gaston Reiff | BEL | 15:07.0 | +0.66 | | 27 | | 3. Bertil Albertsson | SWE | 15:07.8 | +1.16 | | 26 | | 4. Helge Perälä | FIN | 15:07.8 | +1.21 | | 33 | | 5. Jerry Thompson | USA | 15:08.4 | +1.90 | | 24 | | 6. Alain Mimoun | FRA | 15:11.2 | | | 27 | | 7. Alec Olney | GBR | | | | 26 | | 8. Martín Alarcón |  MEX | | | | | | 9. Ernst Günther |  SUI | | | | |
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