| Final | time | age |  | 1. Lasse Viren |  FIN | 27:38.4 | 23 |  | 2. Emiel Puttemans |  BEL | 27:39.6 | 24 |  | 3. Merus Yifter |  ETH | 27:41.0 | 28 |  | 4. Mariano Haro |  ESP | 27:48.2 | 32 |  | 5. Frank Shorter |  USA | 27:51.4 | 24 |  | 6. David Bedford |  GBR | 28:05.4 | 22 |  | 7. Daniel Korica |  YUG | 28:15.2 | 27 |  | 8. Abdelkad Zaddem |  TUN | 28:18.2 | 28 |  | 9. Josef Jansky |  TCH | 28:23.6 | 31 |  | 10.Juan-Maximo Martinez |  MEX | 28:44.2 | 25 |  | 11.Pavel Andreev |  URS | 28:46.4 | 28 |  | 12.Javier Alvarez |  ESP | 28:56.4 | 28 |  | 13.Paul Mose |  KEN | 29:03.0 | 23 |  | 14.Willy Polleunis |  BEL | 29:10.2 | 24 |  | -. Mohamed Gammoudi |  TUN | DNF | 28 |   
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| Heat 1 | time |  | 1. Emiel Puttemans |  BEL | 27:53.4 |  | 2. David Bedford |  GBR | 27:53.6 |  | 3. Javier Alvarez |  ESP | 28:08.6 |  | 4. Abdelkad Zaddem |  TUN | 28:14.8 |  | 5. Josef Jansky |  TCH | 28:23.2 |  | 6. Anatoli Badrankov |  URS | 28:35.8 |  | 7. Noel Tijou |  FRA | 28:36.2 |  | 8. Werner Dossegger |  SUI | 28:36.4 |  | 9. Tadesse Wolde-Medhin |  ETH | 28:45.4 |  | 10.Akio Usami |  JPN | 29:24.8 |  | 11.Jeff Galloway |  USA | 29:35.0 |  | 12.Naftali Temu |  KEN | 30:19.6 |  | 13.Esaie Fongang |  CMR | 31:32.6 |  | 14.P.C. Suppiah |  SIN | 31:59,2 |  | 15.Crispin Quispe |  BOL | 32:31.8 |  | 16.Giuseppe Cindolo |  ITA | 33:03.4 |  | -. Gunter Mielke |  FRG | DNF |  | -. Usaia Sotutu |  FIJ | DNS |   
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| Heat 2 | time |  | 1. Mohamed Gammoudi |  TUN | 27:54.8 |  | 2. Mariano Haro |  ESP | 27:56.0 |  | 3. Frank Shorter |  USA | 27:58.2 |  | 4. Lasse Viren |  FIN | 28:04.4 |  | 5. Paul Mose |  KEN | 28:18.8 |  | 6. Rashid Sharafetdinov |  URS | 28:24.6 |  | 7. Wuhib Maresha |  ETH | 28:28.0 |  | 8. N. Pedro Miranda |  MEX | 28:35.8 |  | 9. Karel Lismont |  BEL | 28:41.8 |  | 10.Neil Cusack |  IRL | 28:45.8 |  | 11.David Holt |  GBR | 28:46.8 |  | 12.Keisuke Sawaki |  JPN | 29:29.0 |  | 13.Angel Perez Rafael |  CRC | 29:36.6 |  | 14.Elias Julio Quevedo |  GUA | 30:08.4 |  | 15.Ardelhamid Khamis |  EGY | 30:19.2 |  | 16.Lucien Rosa |  CEY | 30:20.2 |  | -. Richard Mabuza |  SWZ | DNF |  | -. Abdi Gulet |  SOM | DNS |  | -. Per Halle |  NOR | DNS |   
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| Heat 3 | time |  | 1. Merus Yifter |  ETH | 28:18.2 |  | 2. Willy Polleunis |  BEL | 28:19.8 |  | 3. Pavel Andreev |  URS | 28:21.0 |  | 4. Daniel Korica |  YUG | 28:22.2 |  | 5. Juan-Maximo Martinez |  MEX | 28:23.2 |  | 6. Laughlin Stewart |  GBR | 28:31.4 |  | 7. Arne Roald Risa |  NOR | 28:31.8 |  | 8. Jon Anderson |  USA | 28:34.2 |  | 9. Carlos Alberto Lopes |  POR | 28:53.6 |  | 10.Albrecht Moser |  SUI | 29:05.8 |  | 11.Richard Juma |  KEN | 29:13.0 |  | 12.Domingo Tibaduiza |  COL | 29:24.0 |  | 13.Shag Mousa Medani |  SUD | 29:32.8 |  | 14.Manfred Letzerich |  FRG | 29:37.8 |  | 15.Hikmet Sen |  TUR | 29:51.8 |  | -. Anilus Joseph |  HAI | DNF |  | -. Gavin Thorley |  NZL | DNF |  | -. Juha Vaatainen |  FIN | DNS |  | -. Edmundo Warnke |  CHI | DNS |   
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