These are the official results of the
Women's 400 metres event at the
1983 IAAF World Championships in
Helsinki, Finland. There were a total number of 35 participating athletes, with five qualifying heats and the final held on Wednesday 10 August 1983.
Jarmila Kratochvílová in lane 3 spent much of the race chasing
Mariya Kulchunova-Pinigina to her outside, while
Taťána Kocembová
Taťána Netoličková (née Kocembová (, divorced Slaninova; born 2 May 1962) is a retired 400 metres runner who represented Czechoslovakia. Her greatest achievement was winning the silver medal behind teammate Jarmila Kratochvílová at the 198 ...
quickly made up the stagger on
Rosalyn Bryant
Rosalyn Evette Bryant (married Clark; born January 7, 1956) is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 meters.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, she competed for the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada
...
between the two Czech teammates. Kratochvílová finally made up the stagger on Pinigina in the middle of the final turn and came onto the home stretch barely two metres up on the Soviet and a metre up on her teammate. She widened that to four metres by the finish and Kocembová opened up a similar gap on Pinigina.
Each of the top four competitors in this race set their lifetime best, Kratochvílová only being beaten once with 1985's still standing world record 47.60 by
Marita Koch. In addition to Kratochvílová remaining the #2 performer in history, Kocembová is #5, Pinigina is #15. Almost forgotten is #56
Gaby Bußmann, still under 50 seconds.
Medalists
Records
Existing records at the start of the event.
Final
Semifinals
*Held on Tuesday 9 August 1983
Quarterfinals
*Held on Mopnday 8 August 1983
Qualifying heats
*Held on Sunday 7 August 1983
References
Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:1983 World Championships In Athletics - Women's 400 Metres
400 metres at the World Athletics Championships
1983 in women's athletics