1983 World Championships in Athletics
The inaugural 1983 World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983.
 | |
| Host city | Helsinki, Finland |
|---|---|
| Nations participating | 153 |
| Athletes participating | 1,355 |
| Events | 41 |
| Dates | 7–14 August 1983 |
| Officially opened by | President Mauno Koivisto |
| Main venue | Helsinki Olympic Stadium |
Summary
The overall medal table was a closely contested affair. East Germany took the most gold medals (10) over the first championships and finished with a total of 22 medals. The United States had the next largest number of golds, with eight, and also had the greatest overall medal haul, having won 24 medals altogether. The Soviet Union won one more medal than the East Germans and had six golds, although almost half of their podium finishers were bronze medalists. Twenty-five nations reached the medal tally at the inaugural competition, with all six continents being represented. During the early 1980s this was the top venue in which Soviet Bloc athletes competed against American athletes due to the American-led boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and the retaliatory Soviet Bloc boycott of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Carl Lewis won both the 100 metres and the long jump, and finished the competition by anchoring the 4×100 metres relay team to a world record time, along with the 200 metres champion Calvin Smith, and bronze medallists Emmit King and Willie Gault. Jarmila Kratochvílová dominated the 400 metres and 800 metres events, setting a world record of 47.99 seconds. Mary Decker enjoyed her best competition performance, taking the golds in the women's 1500 metres and 3000 metres. Other prominent athletes included Marita Koch, who won the 200 m and both relay golds, as well as the 100 m silver medal. Sergey Bubka won the first of his six consecutive World Championship gold medals in the pole vault.
Men's results
Track
1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds.
Field
1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long jump |
 | 8.55 | | 8.29 | | 8.12 |
| Triple jump |
 | 17.42 | | 17.18 |  | 17.18 |
| High jump |
 | 2.32 | | 2.32 |  | 2.29 |
| Pole vault |
| 5.70 | | 5.60 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 5.60 |
| Shot put |
| 21.39 |  | 21.16 |  | 20.98 |
| Discus throw |
| 67.72 |  | 67.36 | | 66.08 |
| Hammer throw |
| 82.68 | | 80.94 | | 79.42 |
| Javelin throw |
| 89.48 | | 85.60 | | 85.58 |
| Decathlon |
 | 8666 |  | 8561 | | 8478 |
WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) | ||||||
Women's results
Track
1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m |
| 10.97 (CR) |
| 11.02 | | 11.06 |
| 200 m |
| 22.13 |  | 22.19 | | 22.37 |
| 400 m |
| 47.99 (WR) |
| 48.59 (PB) |
| 49.19 |
| 800 m |
| 1:54.68 | | 1:56.11 | | 1:57.58 |
| 1,500 m |
| 4:00.90 | | 4:01.19 | | 4:02.25 |
| 3,000 m |
| 8:34.62 | | 8:35.11 | | 8:35.13 |
| Marathon |
 | 2:28:09 | | 2:31:09 | | 2:31:13 |
| 100 m hurdles |
| 12.35 | | 12.42 | | 12.62 |
| 400 m hurdles |
| 54.14 | | 54.15 | | 54.55 |
| 4 × 100 m relay |
Silke Gladisch Marita Koch Ingrid Auerswald Marlies Göhr | 41.76 | Joan Baptiste Kathy Cook Beverley Callender Shirley Thomas | 42.71 | Leleith Hodges Jacqueline Pusey Juliet Cuthbert Merlene Ottey | 42.73 |
| 4 × 400 m relay |
Kerstin Walther Sabine Busch Marita Koch Dagmar Rübsam Undine Bremer* Ellen Fiedler* | 3:19.73 | Taťána Kocembová Milena Matějkovičová Zuzana Moravčíková Jarmila Kratochvílová | 3:20.32 | Yelena Korban Marina Ivanova Irina Baskakova Mariya Pinigina | 3:21.16 |
WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) | ||||||
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds.
Field
1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long jump |
| 7.27 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 7.15 | | 7.04 |
| High jump |
| 2.01 | | 1.99 | | 1.95 |
| Shot put |
| 21.05 | | 20.70 | | 20.56 |
| Discus throw |
| 68.94 | | 67.44 | | 66.44 |
| Javelin throw |
 | 70.82 | | 69.14 |  | 65.72 |
| Heptathlon |
| 6714 | | 6662 | | 6532 |
WR world record | AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) | ||||||
Medal table
* Host nation (Finland)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 10 | 7 | 5 | 22 |
| 2 | | 8 | 9 | 7 | 24 |
| 3 | | 6 | 6 | 11 | 23 |
| 4 | | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 5 | | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| 6 | | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 7 | | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| 11 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 15 | | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
.svg.png){kind=small} | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 20 | | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 21 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (25 nations) | 41 | 41 | 41 | 123 | |
See also
- 1983 in athletics (track and field)
References
External links
