# 1987 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay

The 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Stadio Olimpico on September 5 and September 6.

## Medals

| Gold: | Silver: | Bronze: |
| East Germany Dagmar Neubauer Kirsten Emmelmann Petra Muller Sabine Busch Cornelia Ullrich* | Soviet Union Aelita Yurchenko Olga Nazarova Mariya Pinigina Olga Bryzgina | United States Diane Dixon Denean Howard Valerie Brisco-Hooks Lillie Leatherwood |
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds.

## Results

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

### Final

| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes |
| | East Germany | Dagmar Neubauer, Kirsten Emmelmann, Petra Muller, Sabine Busch | 3:18.63 | CR |
| | Soviet Union | Aelita Yurchenko, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Pinigina, Olga Bryzgina | 3:19.50 | |
| | United States | Diane Dixon, Denean Howard, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Lillie Leatherwood | 3:21.04 | |
| 4 | Canada | Charmaine Crooks, Molly Killingbeck, Marita Payne-Wiggins, Jillian Richardson | 3:24.11 | |
| 5 | West Germany | Ute Thimm, Helga Arendt, Gudrun Abt, Gisela Kinzel | 3:24.94 | |
| 6 | Jamaica | Cathy Rattray-Williams, Sandra Farmer, Ilrey Oliver, Sandie Richards | 3:27.51 | |
| 7 | France | Nathalie Simon, Nadine Debois, Hélène Huart, Fabienne Ficher | 3:27.60 | |
| 8 | Bulgaria | Tsvetanka Ilieva, Rositsa Stamenova, Pepa Pavlova, Yuliana Marinova | 3:30.24 | |

### Heats
#### Heat 1

| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Soviet Union | Aelita Yurchenko, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Pinigina, Olga Bryzgina | 3:20.75 | Q |
| 2 | United States | Diane Dixon, Denean Howard, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Lillie Leatherwood | 3:22.32 | Q |
| 3 | Canada | Charmaine Crooks, Molly Killingbeck, Marita Payne-Wiggins, Jillian Richardson | 3:24.50 | Q |
| 4 | France | Nathalie Simon, Nadine Debois, Hélène Huart, Fabienne Ficher | 3:27.76 | q |
| 5 | Cuba | Ester Petitón, Odalys Hernandez, Tania Fernández, Ana Fidelia Quirot | 3:29.78 | |
| 6 | Kenya | Geraldine Shitandayi, Florence Wanjiru, Esther Kavaya, Francisca Chepkurui | 3:30.16 | |
| 7 | Brazil | Suzete Montalvão, Maria do Carmo Fialho, Soraya Vieira Telles, Maria Magnólia Souza Figueiredo | 3:30.91 | AR |
| 8 | India | Vandana Shanbag, Vandana Rao, Shiny Wilson, P.T. Usha | 3:31.55 | AR |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes |
| 1 | East Germany | Kirsten Emmelmann, Dagmar Neubauer, Cornelia Ullrich, Petra Muller | 3:22.97 | Q |
| 2 | Bulgaria | Malena Andonova, Rositsa Stamenova, Pepa Pavlova, Yuliana Marinova | 3:25.85 | Q |
| 3 | West Germany | Karin Lix, Helga Arendt, Gudrun Abt, Gisela Kinzel | 3:26.75 | Q |
| 4 | Jamaica | Cathy Rattray-Williams, Sandie Richards, Sandra Farmer, Ilrey Oliver | 3:27.13 | q |
| 5 | Hungary | Erzsebet Szabo, Erika Szopori, Noémi Bátori, Judit Forgács | 3:31.56 | |
| 6 | Italy | Rossana Morabito, Cosetta Campana, Nevia Pistrino, Erica Rossi | 3:31.72 | |
| 7 | Spain | Rosa Colorado, Cristina Pérez, Montserrat Pujol, Blanca Lacambra | 3:32.01 | |
| 8 | Ireland | Michelle Walsh-Carroll, Barbara Johnson, Patricia Walsh, Patricia Amond | 3:32.56 | |