These are the official results of the men's 800 metres event at the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. 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 and Rob Druppers. 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. World Record1:41.73Florence, ItalyJune 10, 1981Championship RecordNew 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 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1James Robinson1:46.32Q, 2Garry Cook1:46.44Q3Viktor Kalinkin1:46.57q4Christoph Ulmer1:47.985Jama Aden1:48.696Paul Gilbert1:51.397Khaled Khalifa1:52.848Sekou Camara1:59.90
Heat 2 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1Matthias Assmann1:47.45Q2José Luíz Barbosa1:47.47Q3Binko Kolev1:47.49q4Peter Bourke1:48.155Petru Drăgoescu1:48.336Bo Breigan1:49.537Mohammed Darwish1:50.68
Heat 3 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1Willi Wülbeck1:46.55Q2Philippe Dupont1:46.62Q3David Patrick1:46.76q4Babacar Niang1:47.545Donato Sabia1:47.626Sotirios Moutsanas1:48.237Vincent Confait1:55.048Jean-Marie Rudasinqwa1:55.12
Heat 4 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1Detlef Wagenknecht1:49.20Q2Sammy Koskei1:49.35Q3Omer Khalifa1:49.674Ronny Olsson1:49.725Simon Hoogewerf1:49.92Charlie OliverRyszard Ostrowski
Heat 5 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1Agberto Guimarães1:48.30Q2Alberto Juantorena1:48.40Q3Juma Ndiwa1:48.404Mohamed Zahafi1:49.435Gordan Hinds1:50.92 6Didier Le Guillou1:52.497Ruthsel Martina1:55.67
Heat 6 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1David Mack1:45.84Q, 2Jorma Härkönen1:46.39Q3Peter Elliott1:46.53q4José Marajo1:46.78q5Colomán Trabado1:47.10q6Kim Bock-ju1:48.407Tisbite Rakotoarisoa1:50.708Antonio Cadio Paraiso1:58.47
Heat 7 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1Rob Druppers1:46.12Q2Joaquim Cruz1:46.12Q3Peter Pearless1:47.22q4Mike Solomon1:47.30q5Faouzi Lahbi1:47.766Gawain Guy1:49.197John Chappory1:52.30
Heat 8 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1Hans-Peter Ferner1:48.34Q2Michael Hillardt1:48.44Q3James Maina Boi1:48.694Mark Handelsman1:49.025Mohamed Alouini1:49.096William Wuycke1:50.717Luis Munguía1:55.778Clive Williams2:03.64
Semi-finals The semifinals took place on 8 August, with the 24 athletes involved being split into 3 heats. The first 2 athletes in each heat ( Q ) and the next 2 fastest ( q ) qualified for the final.
Heat 1 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1Joaquim Cruz1:45.62Q, 2James Robinson1:46.16Q3Philippe Dupont1:46.364Viktor Kalinkin1:46.835Mike Solomon1:47.106Matthias Assmann1:48.737Michael Hillardt1:49.64Alberto Juantorena
Heat 2 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1Willi Wülbeck1:46.21Q2Agberto Guimarães1:46.37Q3José Marajo1:46.394David Mack1:46.395Colomán Trabado1:46.856Garry Cook1:47.487Sammy Koskei1:48.928Binko Kolev1:50.23
Heat 3 Rank Name Nationality Time Notes 1Hans-Peter Ferner1:45.24Q, 2David Patrick1:45.30Q3Peter Elliott1:45.38q4Rob Druppers1:45.55q5Detlef Wagenknecht1:45.706Peter Pearless1:47.827José Luíz Barbosa1:48.058Jorma Härkönen1:49.39
Final The final took place on August 9. Rank Name Nationality Time Notes Willi Wülbeck1:43.65Rob Druppers1:44.20Joaquim Cruz1:44.274Peter Elliott1:44.875James Robinson1:45.126Agberto Guimarães1:45.467Hans-Peter Ferner1:45.748David Patrick1:46.56
References Results