1983 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay
# 1983 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay

The 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on August 13 and August 14.

## Medals

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| - | - | - |
| East Germany Kerstin Walther Sabine Busch Marita Koch Dagmar Rübsam | Czechoslovakia Tatána Kocembová Milena Matějkovičová Zuzana Moravčíková Jarmila Kratochvílová | Soviet Union Yelena Korban Marina Ivanova Irina Baskakova Mariya Pinigina |

## Records

Existing records at the start of the event.

| World record | East Germany (GDR) | 3:19.04 | Athens, Greece | September 11, 1982 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Championship record | New event | New event | New event | New event |

## Results

### Heats

All times shown are in minutes.

* 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)
* DNS = did not start | DQ = disqualification | NM = no mark (i.e. no valid result) | Q = qualification by place in heat | q = qualification by overall place

**Heat 1**

* United States (Roberta Belle, Easter Gabriel, Rosalyn Bryant, Denean Howard) 3:26.82 Q
* Canada (Charmaine Crooks, Jillian Richardson, Molly Killingbeck, Marita Payne) 3:27.21 Q
* Czechoslovakia (Milena Matějkovičová, Zuzana Moravčíková, Taťána Kocembová, Jarmila Kratochvílová) 3:27.60 Q
* West Germany (Rita Daimer, Ute Thimm, Gisela Gottwald, Gaby Bußmann) 3:29.70 q
* Romania (Iulia Radu, Daniela Matei, Cristieana Cojocaru, Elena Lina) 3:30.96 q

**Heat 2**

* Soviet Union (Yelena Korban, Marina Ivanova, Irina Baskakova, Mariya Pinigina) 3:28.77 Q
* East Germany (Kerstin Walther, Undine Bremer, Ellen Fiedler, Sabine Busch) 3:29.05 Q
* Bulgaria (Svobodka Damyanova, Rositsa Stamenova, Katya Ilieva, Galina Penkova) 3:31.11 Q
* Jamaica (Cathy Rattray, Ovrill Dwyer-Brown, Jacqueline Pusey, Grace Jackson) 3:34.17
* Puerto Rico (Madeline De Jesus, Vilma Paris, Margaret De Jesus, Nilsa Paris) 3:42.79

### Final

* East Germany (Kerstin Walther, Sabine Busch, Marita Koch, Dagmar Rübsam) 3:19.73
* Czechoslovakia (Taťána Kocembová, Milena Matějkovičová, Zuzana Moravčíková, Jarmila Kratochvílová) 3:20.32
* Soviet Union (Yelena Korban, Marina Ivanova, Irina Baskakova, Mariya Pinigina) 3:21.16
* Canada (Charmaine Crooks, Jillian Richardson, Molly Killingbeck, Marita Payne) 3:27.41
* United States (Roberta Belle, Easter Gabriel, Rosalyn Bryant, Denean Howard) 3:27.57
* West Germany (Rita Daimer, Ute Thimm, Gisela Gottwald, Gaby Bußmann) 3:29.43
* Bulgaria (Svobodka Damyanova, Rositsa Stamenova, Katya Ilieva, Galina Penkova) 3:30.36
* Romania (Iulia Radu, Daniela Matei, Cristieana Cojocaru, Elena Lina) 3:35.61
