These are the official results of the
men's 800 metres event at the
1983 IAAF World Championships in
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...
. There were a total of 60 participating athletes, with eight qualifying heats, three semi-finals and the final held on 9 August 1983.
From the gun, World Junior Record holder and NCAA Champion
Joaquim Cruz went out fast to get the lead, with
Peter Elliott in lane 1 accelerating when he saw Cruz ahead of him, passing the break point swinging wide to go around Cruz but Cruz would not let him by. Coming off the turn, Elliott accelerated and ran past Cruz to take the lead at the bell in 50.58.
Hans-Peter Ferner was next behind them, followed by
Willi Wülbeck
Wilhelm "Willi" Wülbeck (born 18 December 1954) is a retired German middle-distance runner. Competing in the 800 m he finished fourth at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the West German boycott and could not ...
and
Rob Druppers
Robertus "Rob" Johannes Druppers (born 29 April 1962) is a former Dutch middle distance runner, who won the silver medal in the 800 m event at the 1983 World Championships. He set a Dutch 800 m record at 1:43.56 in Cologne in 1985, and a 1000 ...
. Coming off the third turn, Cruz again accelerated to try to take back the lead. Down the backstretch, Cruz and Elliott ran shoulder to shoulder. Gritting his teeth, Elliott would not concede the position, Cruz running the final turn outside of Elliott still shoulder to shoulder with now Wülbeck watching the battle from two steps behind. Off the final turn, Cruz accelerated again to pull away from Elliott but Wülbeck went around the outside to sprint past both of them, unleaded to victory. Druppers came off the final turn several metres back, passed a fading Ferner and began sprinting, picking off Elliott and then Cruz just before the finish line.
Records
Existing records at the start of the event.
Results
Qualifying heats
The qualifying heats took place on 7 August, with the 60 athletes involved being split into 8 heats. The first 2 athletes in each heat (
Q ) and the next 8 fastest (
q ) qualified for the semifinals.
;Heat 1
;Heat 2
;Heat 3
;Heat 4
;Heat 5
;Heat 6
;Heat 7
;Heat 8
Semi-finals
The semifinals took place on 8 August, with the 24 athletes involved being splitted into 3 heats. The first 2 athletes in each heat (
Q ) and the next 2 fastest (
q ) qualified for the final.
;Heat 1
;Heat 2
;Heat 3
Final
The final took place on August 9.
References
Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:1983 World Championships In Athletics - Men's 800 Metres
800 metres at the World Athletics Championships