| Date | 9 August 1984 — 16:15 | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California | |
| Format | Top 3 in each heat and next 6 fastest advanced to the semi-finals. | |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time (Automatic) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 578 | Joseph Chesire |  KEN | 3:38.51 | ||
| 2 | 780 | Omer Khalifa |  SUD | 3:38.93 | ||
| 3 | 510 | Stefano Mei |  ITA | 3:39.25 | ||
| 4 | 694 | Tony Rogers |  NZL | 3:39.78 | ||
| 5 | 228 | José Luis González |  ESP | 3:47.01 | ||
| 6 | 623 | Faouzi Lahbi |  MAR | 3:47.54 | ||
| 7 | 347 | Paul Ceesay |  GAM | 3:59.14 | ||
| 8 | 702 | Amor Masoud Al-Sharji |  OMA | 4:12.76 | ||
| 260 | Antti Loikkanen |  FIN | – | |||
| 1007 | Charlie Oliver |  SOL | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time (Automatic) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 302 | Pascal Thiébaut |  FRA | 3:45.18 | ||
| 2 | 359 | Seb Coe |  GBR | 3:45.30 | ||
| 3 | 244 | Andrés Vera | ESP | 3:45.44 | ||
| 4 | 462 | Paul Donovan |  IRL | 3:45.70 | ||
| 5 | 771 | Jama Aden |  SOM | 3:46.80 | ||
| 6 | 855 | Mohamed Alouini |  TUN | 3:49.78 | ||
| 7 | 14 | Dale Jones |  ANT | 3:55.65 | ||
| 8 | 85 | Kgomotso Balotthanyi |  BOT | 3:58.69 | ||
| 438 | Oslen Barr |  GUY | – | |||
| 918 | Sydney Maree |  USA | – | |||
| 952 | Abdul Al-Ghadi |  YAR | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time (Automatic) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 388 | Steve Ovett | GBR | 3:49.23 | ||
| 2 | 99 | Agberto Guimarães |  BRA | 3:49.26 | ||
| 3 | 470 | Marcus O'Sullivan | IRL | 3:49.65 | ||
| 4 | 589 | Josephat Muraya | KEN | 3:51.61 | ||
| 5 | 540 | Gawain Guy |  JAM | 3:52.04 | ||
| 6 | 515 | Claudio Patrignani | ITA | 3:52.63 | ||
| 7 | 2 | Mehdi Aidet |  ALG | 3:53.92 | ||
| 8 | 553 | Mouteb Al-Faouri |  JOR | 3:59.85 | ||
| 784 | Pierre Délèze |  SUI | – | |||
| 712 | Francisco Figueredo |  PAR | – | |||
| 950 | William Wuycke |  VEN | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time (Automatic) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 93 | Joaquim Cruz | BRA | 3:41.01 | ||
| 2 | 938 | Steve Scott | USA | 3:41.02 | ||
| 3 | 29 | Mike Hillardt |  AUS | 3:41.18 | ||
| 4 | 469 | Frank O'Mara | IRL | 3:41.76 | ||
| 5 | 287 | Alex Gonzalez | FRA | 3:42.84 | ||
| 6 | 479 | Mark Handelsman |  ISR | 3:45.05 | ||
| 7 | 9 | Abderrahmane Morceli | ALG | 3:45.09 | ||
| 8 | 981 | Archfell Musango |  ZAM | 3:46.99 | ||
| 9 | 973 | Adamou Allassane |  NIG | 3:56.43 | ||
| 10 | 799 | Tito Rodrigues |  SUR | 4:02.87 | ||
| 961 | Dragan Zdravković |  YUG | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time (Automatic) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 219 | José Manuel Abascal | ESP | 3:37.68 | ||
| 2 | 797 | Peter Wirz | SUI | 3:37.75 | ||
| 3 | 305 | Uwe Becker |  FRG | 3:37.76 | ||
| 4 | 508 | Riccardo Materazzi | ITA | 3:37.95 | ||
| 5 | 38 | Pat Scammell | AUS | 3:39.18 | ||
| 6 | 823 | James Igohe |  TAN | 3:39.62 | ||
| 7 | 964 | Tapfumaneyi Jonga |  ZIM | 3:40.42 | ||
| 8 | 625 | Isaac Ganunga |  MAW | 3:53.86 | ||
| 9 | 435 | Hugo Allan García |  GUA | 3:57.59 | ||
| 10 | 602 | Kim Bok-Ju |  KOR | 4:02.63 | ||
| 866 | Ibrahim Aziz |  UAE | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Time (Automatic) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 362 | Steve Cram | GBR | 3:40.33 | ||
| 2 | 941 | Jim Spivey | USA | 3:40.58 | ||
| 3 | 690 | Peter O'Donoghue | NZL | 3:40.69 | ||
| 4 | 773 | Abdi Bile | SOM | 3:40.72 | ||
| 5 | 577 | Kip Cheruiyot | KEN | 3:41.96 | ||
| 6 | 829 | Zakaria Namonge | TAN | 3:45.55 | ||
| 7 | 621 | Batumalai Rajakumar |  MAS | 3:55.19 | ||
| 8 | 972 | Jean-Marie Rudasingwa |  RWA | 3:57.62 | ||
| 9 | 761 | Philip Sinon |  SEY | 4:25.80 | ||
| 10 | 407 | Diosdado Lozano |  GEQ | 4:34.71 | ||
| 21 | Omar Ortega |  ARG | – |
