# IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships

The IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships was an annual international athletics championship in road running organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (then known as the International Amateur Athletics Federation). It was contested from 1983 to 1991, before being replaced by the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1992, an event for both men and women.
The event was a 10 km race in 1983 and 1984, then a 15 km race from 1985 to 1991.

## Editions

| Edition | Year | City | Country |
| 1st | 1983 | San Diego | United States |
| 2nd | 1984 | Madrid | Spain |
| 3rd | 1985 | Gateshead | United Kingdom |
| 4th | 1986 | Lisbon | Portugal |
| 5th | 1987 | Monte Carlo | Monaco |
| 6th | 1988 | Adelaide | Australia |
| 7th | 1989 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil |
| 8th | 1990 | Dublin | Ireland |
| 9th | 1991 | Nieuwegein | Norway |

## Medalists
### Individual

| Year | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 1983 | Wendy Sly (GBR) | 32:23 | Betty Springs (USA) | 32:23 | Lesley Welch (USA) | 32:41 |
| 1984 | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 33:04 | Rosa Mota (POR) | 33:18 | Carole Bradford (GBR) | 33:25 |
| 1985 | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 49:17 | Judi St. Hilaire (USA) | 49:25 | Carole Bradford (GBR) | 49:59 |
| 1986 | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 48:31 | Rosa Mota (POR) | 48:35 | Carla Beurskens (NED) | 48:36 |
| 1987 | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 47:17 | Nancy Tinari (CAN) | 48:53 | Maria Curatolo (ITA) | 49:15 |
| 1988 | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 48:24 | Wang Xiuting (CHN) | 50:18 | Zoya Ivanova (URS) | 50:28 |
| 1989 | Wang Xiuting (CHN) | 49:34 | Zhong Huandi (CHN) | 49:44 | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 50:06 |
| 1990 | Iulia Negura (ROM) | 50:14 | Francie Larrieu-Smith (USA) | 50:15 | Zhong Huandi (CHN) | 50:19 |
| 1991 | Iulia Negura (ROM) | 48:42 | Andrea Wallace (GBR) | 48:43 | Uta Pippig (GER) | 48:44 |

### Team

* Team medals were decided by adding the positions of the leading three team members, except in 1984, when the times of the three leading team members were added.
| Year | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 1983 | United States | 12 | Canada | 19 | Ireland | 32 |
| 1984 | Great Britain | 1:41:24 | United States | 1:42:33 | Portugal | 1:43:11 |
| 1985 | Great Britain | 19 | Soviet Union | 20 | United States | 36 |
| 1986 | Soviet Union | 20 | Portugal | 24 | United States | 26 |
| 1987 | Portugal | 32 | Soviet Union | 32 | Great Britain | 46 |
| 1988 | Soviet Union | 21 | China | 31 | Portugal | 37 |
| 1989 | China | 10 | Portugal | 15 | Soviet Union | 24 |
| 1990 | Portugal | 27 | Soviet Union | 47 | West Germany | 62 |
| 1991 | Germany | 22 | Romania | 24 | Soviet Union | 31 |

## Individual Results
### San Diego 1983 (10 km)

66 starters. 62 finishers
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
| | Wendy Sly (GBR) | 32:23 |
| | Betty Springs (USA) | 32:23 |
| | Lesley Welch (USA) | 32:41 |
| 4th | Nancy Rooks (CAN) | 32:57 |
| 5th | Dorthe Rasmussen (DEN) | 33:03 |
| 6th | Midde Hamrin (SWE) | 33:06 |
| 7th | Sylvie Ruegger (CAN) | 33:06 |
| 8th | Monica Joyce (IRL) | 33:14 |
| 9th | Ellen Hart (USA) | 33:15 |
| 10th | Lisa Martin (AUS) | 33:19 |

### Madrid 1984 (10 km)

54 finishers.
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
| | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 33:04 |
| | Rosa Mota (POR) | 33:18 |
| | Carole Bradford (GBR) | 33:25 |
| 4 | Debbie Peel (GBR) | 33:51 |
| 5 | Anne Marie Malone (CAN) | 34:01 |
| 6 | Sally Pierson (AUS) | 34:05 |
| 7 | Carol Haigh (GBR) | 34:08 |
| 8 | Monica Joyce (IRE) | 34:09 |
| 9 | Gail Kingma (USA) | 34:12 |
| 10 | Jeanette Nordgren (SWE) | 34:13 |

### Gateshead 1985 (15 km)

67 finishers.
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
| | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 49:17 |
| | Judi St. Hilaire (USA) | 49:25 |
| | Carole Bradford (GBR) | 49:59 |
| 4th | Lyudmila Matveyeva (URS) | 50:28 |
| 5th | Paula Fudge (GBR) | 50:36 |
| 6th | Donna Gould (AUS) | 50:42 |
| 7th | Mariya Vasilyuk (URS) | 50:56 |
| 8th | Anna Villani (ITA) | 51:00 |
| 9th | Yelena Sipatova (URS) | 51:08 |
| 10th | Ellen Wessinhage (FRG) | 51:29 |

### Lisbon 1986 (15 km)

75 finishers.
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
| | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 48:31 |
| | Rosa Mota (POR) | 48:35 |
| | Carla Beurskens (NED) | 48:36 |
| 4 | Marty Cooksey (USA) | 48:41 |
| 5 | Tatyana Kazankina (URS) | 49:12 |
| 6 | Lyudmila Matveyeva (URS) | 49:13 |
| 7 | Maria Curatolo (ITA) | 49:14 |
| 8 | Nancy Rooks (CAN) | 49:22 |
| 9 | Marina Rodchenkova [ru] (URS) | 49:26 |
| 10 | Kellie Cathey (USA) | 49:42 |

### Monte Carlo 1987 (15 km)

110 starters. 103 finishers.
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
| | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 47:17 |
| | Nancy Tinari (CAN) | 48:53 |
| | Maria Curatolo (ITA) | 49:15 |
| 4 | Malin Wästlund (SWE) | 49:21 |
| 5 | Yekaterina Khramenkova (URS) | 49:33 |
| 6 | Albertina Machado (POR) | 49:35 |
| 7 | Lisa Weidenbach (USA) | 49:41 |
| 8 | Paula Fudge (GBR) | 49:43 |
| 9 | Evy Palm (SWE) | 49:48 |
| 10 | Agnes Pardaens (BEL) | 49:56 |

### Adelaide 1988 (15 km)

77 starters. 70 finishers.
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
| | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 48:24 |
| | Wang Xiuting (CHN) | 50:18 |
| | Zoya Ivanova (URS) | 50:28 |
| 4 | Zhong Huandi (CHN) | 50:29 |
| 5 | Malin Wästlund (SWE) | 50:42 |
| 6 | Yekaterina Khramenkova (URS) | 50:43 |
| 7 | Lizanne Bussieres (CAN) | 50:46 |
| 8 | Conceição Ferreira (POR) | 50:51 |
| 9 | Tani Ruckle (AUS) | 50:59 |
| 10 | Jocelyn Villeton (FRA) | 51:00 |

### Rio de Janeiro 1989 (15 km)

85 starters. 68 finishers.
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
| | Wang Xiuting (CHN) | 49:34 |
| | Zhong Huandi (CHN) | 50:06 |
| | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 50:06 |
| 4. | Albertina Machado (POR) | 50:16 |
| 5. | Yekaterina Khramenkova (URS) | 50:21 |
| 6. | Jill Hunter (GBR) | 50:34 |
| 7 | Wang Huabi (CHN) | 50:42 |
| 8 | Albertina Dias (POR) | 50:59 |
| 9 | Nadyezhda Stepanova (URS) | 51:05 |
| 10 | Irina Yagodina (URS) | 51:06 |

### Dublin 1990 (15 km)

83 starters. 77 finishers.
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
| | Iulia Negura (ROM) | 50:12 |
| | Francie Larrieu-Smith (USA) | 50:15 |
| | Zhong Huandi (CHN) | 50:19 |
| 4 | Andrea Wallace (GBR) | 50:20 |
| 5 | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 50:27 |
| 6 | Katrin Dorre (GDR) | 50:30 |
| 7 | Nadezhda Galliamova (URS) | 50:32 |
| 8 | Kerstin Pressler (FRG) | 50:37 |
| 9 | Conceição Ferreira (POR) | 51:00 |
| 10 | Valentina Yegorova (URS) | 51:06 |

### Nieuwegein 1991 (15 km)

70 finishers.
| Rank | Athlete | Time |
| | Iulia Negura (ROM) | 48:42 |
| | Andrea Wallace (GBR) | 48:43 |
| | Uta Pippig (GER) | 48:44 |
| 4 | Nadezhda Ilyina (URS) | 48:44 |
| 5 | Rosanna Munerotto (ITA) | 48:47 |
| 6 | Kerstin Pressler (GER) | 49:19 |
| 7 | Georgetta Stage (ROM) | 49:21 |
| 8 | Lidia Camberg (POL) | 49:24 |
| 9 | Conceição Ferreira (POR) | 49:27 |
| 10 | Marina Rodchenkova (URS) | 49:37 |