The men's 3000 metres event at the 1981 European Athletics Indoor Championships was held on 22 February.[1] The race was stopped one lap short, so the actual distance run was 2820 metres.
Results edit
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Alexandre Gonzalez |  France |
9:01 | |
 |
Evgeni Ignatov |  Bulgaria |
9:02 | |
 |
Valeriy Abramov |  Soviet Union |
9:03 | |
| 4 | Francis Gonzalez | France |
9:04 | |
| 5 | Christoph Herle |  West Germany |
9:05 | |
| 6 | Robert Nemeth |  Austria |
9:06 | |
| 7 | Lubomír Tesáček |  Czechoslovakia |
9:07 | |
| 8 | Didier Chauvelier | France |
9:08 | |
| 9 | Jef Gees |  Belgium |
9:09 | |
| 10 | Ken Newton |  Great Britain |
9:10 | |
| 11 | Nikolaos Chalatzis |  Greece |
9:11 |