These are the official results of the men's 1500 metres event at the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. There were a total number of 52 participating athletes, with four qualifying heats, two semi-finals and the final held on Sunday 14 August 1983. The winning margin was 0.28 seconds.
| Men's 1500 metres at the 1983 World Championships | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Helsinki Olympic Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | 12 August (heats) 13 August (semi-finals) 14 August (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 52 | |||||||||
| Winning time | 3:41.59 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Records
editExisting records at the start of the event.
| World Record |  Steve Ovett (GBR)
|
3:31.36 | Koblenz, West Germany | August 27, 1980 |
| Championship Record | New event | |||
Results
editQualifying heats
editThe qualifying heats took place on 12 August, with the 52 athletes involved being split into 4 heats. The first 4 athletes in each heat ( Q ) and the next 8 fastest ( q ) qualified for the semifinals.
- Heat 1
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pierre Délèze |  Switzerland (SUI)
|
3:42.28 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Sydney Maree |  United States (USA)
|
3:43.13 | Q |
| 3 | Uwe Becker |  West Germany (FRG)
|
3:43.18 | Q |
| 4 | Ray Flynn |  Ireland (IRL)
|
3:43.27 | Q |
| 5 | João Campos |  Portugal (POR)
|
3:43.44 | |
| 6 | Kipkoech Cheruiyot |  Kenya (KEN)
|
3:43.58 | |
| 7 | Nikolay Kirov |  Soviet Union (URS)
|
3:43.77 | |
| 8 | Jan Persson |  Sweden (SWE)
|
3:43.83 | |
| 9 | Dave Reid |  Canada (CAN)
|
3:45.08 | |
| 10 | Mohamed Neji Henkiri |  Tunisia (TUN)
|
3:45.90 | |
| 11 | Jama Aden |  Somalia (SOM)
|
3:46.87 | |
| 12 | Tisbite Rakotoarisoa |  Madagascar (MAD)
|
3:52.91 | |
| 13 | Luis Munguía |  Nicaragua (NCA)
|
4:02.06 |
- Heat 2
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Cram |  Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)
|
3:40.17 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Saïd Aouita |  Morocco (MAR)
|
3:40.39 | Q |
| 3 | Frank O'Mara | Ireland (IRL)
|
3:40.53 | Q |
| 4 | John Walker |  New Zealand (NZL)
|
3:40.67 | Q |
| 5 | Piotr Kurek |  Poland (POL)
|
3:40.96 | q |
| 6 | Niels Kim Hjorth |  Denmark (DEN)
|
3:41.29 | q |
| 7 | Peter Wirz | Switzerland (SUI)
|
3:41.69 | |
| 8 | Philippe Dien |  France (FRA)
|
3:43.15 | |
| 9 | Spyros Spyrou |  Cyprus (CYP)
|
3:43.94 | |
| 10 | Paul Rugut | Kenya (KEN)
|
3:46.00 | |
| 11 | Jimmy Igohe |  Tanzania (TAN)
|
3:48.58 | |
| 12 | Charlie Oliver |  Solomon Islands (SOL)
|
4:18.24 | |
| Mehdi Aidet |  Algeria (ALG)
|
DNS |
- Heat 3
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreas Busse |  East Germany (GDR)
|
3:38.65 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Steve Ovett | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)
|
3:39.00 | Q |
| 3 | Dragan Zdravković |  Yugoslavia (YUG)
|
3:39.18 | Q |
| 4 | Jan Kubista |  Czechoslovakia (TCH)
|
3:39.20 | Q |
| 5 | Tom Byers | United States (USA)
|
3:39.41 | q |
| 6 | Eddy Stevens |  Belgium (BEL)
|
3:39.77 | q |
| 7 | Stefano Mei |  Italy (ITA)
|
3:39.93 | q |
| 8 | José Luis González |  Spain (ESP)
|
3:41.29 | q |
| 9 | Pascal Thiebaut | France (FRA)
|
3:41.51 | |
| 10 | Amar Brahmia | Algeria (ALG)
|
3:42.75 | |
| 11 | Omer Khalifa |  Sudan (SUD)
|
3:48.23 | |
| 12 | John Chappory |  Gibraltar (GIB)
|
3:56.92 | |
| 13 | Jean-Marie Rudasinqwa |  Rwanda (RWA)
|
3:57.49 |
- Heat 4
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Scott | United States (USA)
|
3:37.87 | Q, CR |
| 2 | José Manuel Abascal | Spain (ESP)
|
3:38.06 | Q |
| 3 | Claudio Patrignani | Italy (ITA)
|
3:38.35 | Q |
| 4 | Graham Williamson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)
|
3:38.99 | Q |
| 5 | Abderrahmane Morceli | Algeria (ALG)
|
3:39.77 | q |
| 6 | Robert Nemeth |  Austria (AUT)
|
3:39.93 | q |
| 7 | Mike Boit | Kenya (KEN)
|
3:40.06 | q |
| 8 | Antti Loikkanen |  Finland (FIN)
|
3:44.47 | |
| 9 | Sermet Timurlenk |  Turkey (TUR)
|
3:46.74 | |
| 10 | Mohammed Darwish |  Iraq (IRQ)
|
3:50.04 | |
| 11 | Ibrahim Malallah |  Qatar (QAT)
|
3:52.05 | |
| 12 | Masini Situ-Kubanza |  Zaire (ZAI)
|
4:06.44 | |
| 13 | Sekou Camara |  Guinea (GUI)
|
4:08.46 |
Semi-finals
editThe semifinals took place on 13 August, with the 25 athletes involved being split into 2 heats. The first 4 athletes in each heat ( Q ) and the next 4 fastest ( q ) qualified for the final.
- Heat 1
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Scott | United States (USA)
|
3:36.43 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Saïd Aouita | Morocco (MAR)
|
3:36.43 | Q |
| 3 | Jan Kubista | Czechoslovakia (TCH)
|
3:37.12 | Q |
| 4 | Uwe Becker | West Germany (FRG)
|
3:37.27 | Q |
| 5 | Andreas Busse | East Germany (GDR)
|
3:37.54 | q |
| 6 | José Luis González | Spain (ESP)
|
3:38.77 | |
| 7 | Niels Kim Hjorth | Denmark (DEN)
|
3:39.75 | |
| 8 | Abderrahmane Morceli | Algeria (ALG)
|
3:39.88 | |
| 9 | Stefano Mei | Italy (ITA)
|
3:41.78 | |
| 10 | Graham Williamson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)
|
3:45.84 | |
| 11 | Frank O'Mara | Ireland (IRL)
|
3:47.10 | |
| Robert Nemeth | Austria (AUT)
|
DNF |
- Heat 2
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Cram | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)
|
3:35.77 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Steve Ovett | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)
|
3:36.26 | Q |
| 3 | José Manuel Abascal | Spain (ESP)
|
3:36.35 | Q |
| 4 | Pierre Délèze | Switzerland (SUI)
|
3:36.37 | Q |
| 5 | John Walker | New Zealand (NZL)
|
3:36.52 | q |
| 6 | Dragan Zdravković | Yugoslavia (YUG)
|
3:37.31 | q |
| 7 | Mike Boit | Kenya (KEN)
|
3:37.75 | q |
| 8 | Claudio Patrignani | Italy (ITA)
|
3:38.36 | |
| 9 | Sydney Maree | United States (USA)
|
3:38.65 | |
| 10 | Piotr Kurek | Poland (POL)
|
3:39.54 | |
| 11 | Ray Flynn | Ireland (IRL)
|
3:40.26 | |
| 12 | Eddy Stevens | Belgium (BEL)
|
3:42.63 | |
| 13 | Tom Byers | United States (USA)
|
3:43.97 |
Final
editThe final took place on August 14.
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Steve Cram | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)
|
3:41.59 | |
|
Steve Scott | United States (USA)
|
3:41.87 | |
|
Saïd Aouita | Morocco (MAR)
|
3:42.02 | |
| 4 | Steve Ovett | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)
|
3:42.34 | |
| 5 | José Manuel Abascal | Spain (ESP)
|
3:42.47 | |
| 6 | Pierre Délèze | Switzerland (SUI)
|
3:43.69 | |
| 7 | Andreas Busse | East Germany (GDR)
|
3:43.72 | |
| 8 | Dragan Zdravković | Yugoslavia (YUG)
|
3:43.75 | |
| 9 | John Walker | New Zealand (NZL)
|
3:44.24 | |
| 10 | Jan Kubista | Czechoslovakia (TCH)
|
3:44.30 | |
| 11 | Uwe Becker | West Germany (FRG)
|
3:45.09 | |
| 12 | Mike Boit | Kenya (KEN)
|
3:46.46 |