| Final | time | & | | 1. Jean-Paul Villain |  FRA | 8:25.12 | NR | | 2. Dušan Moravčík |  TCH | 8:26.11 | NR | | 3. Pavel Sysoyev |  URS | 8:26.42 | | | 4. Romualdas Bitė | URS | 8:26.97 | | | 5. Mikko Ala-Leppilampi |  FIN | 8:30.94 | | | 6. Georgi Tikhov |  BUL | 8:32.15 | | | 7. Kazimierz Maranda |  POL | 8:33.05 | | | 8. Józef Rębacz | POL | 8:35.12 | | | 9. Vladimiras Dudinas | URS | 8:38.96 | | | 10.Anders Gärderud |  SWE | 8:39.58 | | | 11.Pekka Päivärinta | FIN | 8:55.34 | | | 12.Toni Feldmann |  SUI | DNF | |
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Heats - Friday 13.08 20:05 | | First 4 progress to Final. |
| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Pavel Sysoyev | URS | 8:29.65 | Q | | 2. Toni Feldmann | SUI | 8:29.75 | NR Q | | 3. Georgi Tikhov | BUL | 8:30.87 | Q | | 4. Józef Rębacz | POL | 8:33.36 | Q | | 5. Tapio Kantanen | FIN | 8:35.88 | | | 6. Umberto Risi |  ITA | 8:37.15 | | | 7. Spyros Kontossoros |  GRE | 8:38.24 | NR | | 8. Paul Thys |  BEL | 8:41.11 | | | 9. Willi Wagner |  FRG | 8:44.50 | | | 10.Stalle Engen |  NOR | 8:44.68 | | | 11.Gérard Delalandre | FRA | 8:54.70 | | | 12.Ron McAndrew |  GBR | 9:02.11 | |
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| Heat 2 | time | & | | 1. Dušan Moravčík | TCH | 8:32.81 | Q | | 2. Pekka Päivärinta | FIN | 8:33.34 | Q | | 3. Jean-Paul Villain | FRA | 8:34.17 | Q | | 4. Romualdas Bitė | URS | 8:34.28 | Q | | 5. Arne Risa | NOR | 8:35.62 | | | 6. Henryk Lesiuk | POL | 8:40.34 | | | 7. Gheorghe Cefan |  ROU | 8:44.34 | | | 8. Hans-Dieter Schulten | FRG | 8:46.98 | | | 9. Carlos Lopes |  POR | 8:54.83 | | | 10.Francesco Valente | ITA | 8:57.93 | | | 11.Hans Menet | SUI | 8:58.27 | |
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| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Anders Gärderud | SWE | 8:28.32 | NR Q | | 2. Mikko Ala-Leppilampi | FIN | 8:28.96 | Q | | 3. Vladimiras Dudinas | URS | 8:30.30 | Q | | 4. Kazimierz Maranda | POL | 8:31.85 | Q | | 5. Sverre Sørnes | NOR | 8:35.24 | | | 6. Andy Holden | GBR | 8:36.11 | | | 7. Wigmar Petersen |  DEN | 8:36.67 | NR | | 8. Gérard Buchheit | FRA | 8:40.07 | | | 9. Mikhail Zhelev | BUL | 8:50.64 | | | 10.Milan Tomić |  YUG | 8:53.31 | |
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