| Final 20:25 | time |  | 1. Hagen Melzer | GDR | 8:16.65 |  | 2. Francesco Panetta | ITA | 8:16.85 |  | 3. Patriz Ilg | FRG | 8:16.92 |  | 4. Colin Reitz | GBR | 8:18.12 |  | 5. William Van Dijck | BEL | 8:20.19 |  | 6. Joseph Mahmoud | FRA | 8:20.25 |  | 7. Rainer Schwarz | FRG | 8:20.90 |  | 8. Roger Hackney | GBR | 8:20.97 |  | 9. José Regalo | POR | 8:21.41 |  | 10.Tommy Ekblom | FIN | 8:28.32 |  | 11.Pascal Debacker | FRA | 8:34.95 |  | 12.Henryk Jankowski | POL | 8:36.55 |  | 13.Gabor Marko | HUN | 8:38.78 |  | -.Nikolay Matyuschenko | URS | DNF |  | -.Boguslaw Maminski | POL | DNF |   
 | 
 |  
| Heat 1 | time |  | 1. Tommy Ekblom | FIN | 8:24.03 |  | 2. Hagen Melzer | GDR | 8:24.07 |  | 3. Roger Hackney | GBR | 8:24.49 |  | 4. Gabor Marko | HUN | 8:24.51 |  | 5. Rainer Schwarz | FRG | 8:25.02 |  | 6. Pascal Debacker | FRA | 8:25.22 |  | 7. Francesco Panetta | ITA | 8:25.44 |  | 8. Henryk Jankowski | POL | 8:26.51 |  | 9. Francisco Sanchez | ESP | 8:29.20 |  | 10.Are Nakkim | NOR | 8:42.95 |  | 11.Wolfgang Konrad | AUT | 8:54.33 |   
 | 
| Heat 2 | time |  | 1. William Van Dijck | BEL | 8:26.52 |  | 2. Colin Reitz | GBR | 8:26.86 |  | 3. Boguslaw Maminski | POL | 8:27.11 |  | 4. Patriz Ilg | FRG | 8:27.14 |  | 5. Joseph Mahmoud | FRA | 8:27.47 |  | 6. Jose Regalo | POR | 8:27.65 |  | 7. Nikolay Matyuschenko | URS | 8:27.98 |  | 8. Raymond Pannier | FRA | 8:28.73 |  | 9. Ro!and Hertner | SUI | 8:36.46 |  | 10.Jorge Bello | ESP | 8:38.13 |  | 11 Roger Gjoevaag | NOR | 8:39.62 |  | 12.A. Lambruschini | ITA | 8:49.90 |   
 |  
 |