These are the official results of the Women's 3,000 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 number of 26 participating athletes, with two qualifying heats and the final held on Wednesday 1983-08-10. The final was led from start to finish by Mary Decker-Slaney, a common tactic for her in the USA, but untested at the world level. Marking her every move throughout the race was the Soviet pair of 1500 metres world record holder

Tatyana Kazankina Tatyana Vasilyevna Kazankina (russian: Татья́на Васи́льевна Каза́нкина; born 17 December 1951 in Petrovsk, Saratov Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet/Russian former runner who set s ...

and 3000 metres world record holder

Svetlana Ulmasova Svetlana Ulmasova (russian: Светпана Упьмасова; born 4 February 1953, died 6 April 2009) was a long-distance runner from the Soviet Union and a former world record A world record is usually the best global and most important pe ...

who expected to use their superior finishing speed. As Decker gradually increased the pace, the field stretched out to a lead pack of five, with

Wendy Smith-Sly Wendy Sly MBE (née Smith, born 5 November 1959) is a female British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 3000 metres. She won a silver medal in the event at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She won the 1983 10km World Road Race Championsh ...

and

Agnese Possamai Agnese Possamai (born 17 January 1953 in Lentiai) is a retired middle-distance runner from Italy. Her greatest achievements were the 1985 World Indoor silver medal as well as three European Indoor gold medals. Biography She won eleven medals at ...

. As the final lap approached, Sly, who ran in the USA frequently, moved to join Decker on her shoulder, while

Brigitte Kraus Brigitte Kraus (born 12 August 1956 in Bensberg) is a retired West German middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 and 3000 metres. She competed for the sports clubs LG Rhein-Berg and ASV Köln Athletik-Sport-Verein Köln e.V. is a mult ...

covered the gap to join the lead pack. The Decker/Sly wall kept the Soviet runners boxed in for half a lap, but when Kraus moved on the rail, Kazankina popped free and the race was on to the finish. Coming off the final turn Kazankina looked ready to pass Decker, but she never got there as Decker found an extra gear to hold her off. Kazankina eventually slowed before the finish to be passed by a fast closing Kraus two steps before the line.

Medalists

Records

Existing records at the start of the event.

Final

Qualifying heats

*Held on Monday 1983-08-08

References

Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:1983 World Championships In Athletics - Women's 3000 Metres 1983 in women's athletics