# 1983 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 200 metres

These are the official results of the men's 200 metres event at the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. There were a total number of 57 participating athletes, with eight qualifying heats and the final held on 14 August 1983.
At 22 years, 218 days old, gold medallist Smith was the youngest ever world champion for the men's 200 metres until 2019, when Noah Lyles, aged 22 years and 75 days, won the 2019 title.

## Records

Existing records at the start of the event.
| World Record | Pietro Mennea (ITA) | 19.72 | Mexico City, Mexico | September 12, 1979 |
| Championship Record | New event | New event | New event | New event |

## Results
### Qualifying heats

The qualifying heats took place on 12 August, with the 57 athletes involved being split into 8 heats. The first 3 athletes in each heat ( Q ) and the next 8 fastest ( q ) qualified for the quarter-finals.

#### Heat 1 (wind +1.8 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Frank Emmelmann | East Germany (GDR) | 20.95 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Cameron Sharp | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 21.07 | Q |
| 3 | Bruce Frayne | Australia (AUS) | 21.15 | Q |
| 4 | Christopher Brathwaite | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 21.24 | q |
| 5 | Hector Daley | Panama (PAN) | 21.49 | q |
| 6 | Earl Haley | Guyana (GUY) | 21.55 | q |
| 7 | Moussa Savadogo | Mali (MLI) | 22.33 | |
| 8 | Awudu Nuhu | Ghana (GHA) | 22.93 | |

#### Heat 2 (wind +1.8 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Pietro Mennea | Italy (ITA) | 20.80 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Sergey Sokolov | Soviet Union (URS) | 20.94 | Q |
| 3 | Paul Narracott | Australia (AUS) | 21.08 | Q |
| 4 | Luis Schneider | Chile (CHI) | 21.23 | q |
| 5 | Giorgio Mautino | Peru (PER) | 21.78 | |
| 6 | Hoa Nguyen Truong | Vietnam (VIE) | 22.68 | |
| 7 | Gervais Kirolo | Central African Republic (CAF) | 23.10 | |

#### Heat 3 (wind +0.7 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | João Batista da Silva | Brazil (BRA) | 20.93 | Q |
| 2 | Vladimir Muravyov | Soviet Union (URS) | 21.12 | Q |
| 3 | Desai Williams | Canada (CAN) | 21.36 | Q |
| 4 | Mohamed Purnomo | Indonesia (INA) | 21.88 | |
| 5 | Joseph Leota | Samoa (SAM) | 22.33 | |
| 6 | Nagib Salem Ahmed | Yemen (YEM) | 23.22 | |
| 7 | Colin Bradford | Jamaica (JAM) | 24.15 | |

#### Heat 4 (wind +1.1 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Carlo Simionato | Italy (ITA) | 20.76 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Elliott Quow | United States (USA) | 21.01 | Q |
| 3 | Atlee Mahorn | Canada (CAN) | 21.14 | Q |
| 4 | Angel Heras | Spain (ESP) | 21.29 | q |
| 5 | Roland Jokl | Austria (AUT) | 21.30 | q |
| 6 | David Sawyerr | Sierra Leone (SLE) | 22.23 | |
| 7 | John Albertie | Saint Lucia (LCA) | 22.53 | |

#### Heat 5 (wind –2.1 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Allan Wells | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 21.14 | Q |
| 2 | Boubacar Diallo | Senegal (SEN) | 21.17 | Q |
| 3 | Christopher Madzokere | Zimbabwe (ZIM) | 21.68 | Q |
| 4 | Dean Greenaway | British Virgin Islands (IVB) | 22.24 | |
| | Juan Núñez | Dominican Republic (DOM) | | DNS |
| | Pierfrancesco Pavoni | Italy (ITA) | | DNS |
| | Tony Sharpe | Canada (CAN) | | DNS |

#### Heat 6 (wind +0.4 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Calvin Smith | United States (USA) | 21.10 | Q |
| 2 | Leroy Reid | Jamaica (JAM) | 21.13 | Q |
| 3 | Patrick Barré | France (FRA) | 21.34 | Q |
| 4 | Jae-Keun Chang | South Korea (KOR) | 21.39 | q |
| 5 | Gustavo Capart | Argentina (ARG) | 21.66 | |
| 6 | Rubén Inácio | Angola (ANG) | 22.33 | |
| 7 | Trevor Davis | Anguilla (AIA) | 22.80 | |

#### Heat 7 (wind –1.1 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Innocent Egbunike | Nigeria (NGR) | 21.28 | |
| 2 | István Nagy | Hungary (HUN) | 21.50 | |
| 3 | Andreas Rizzi | West Germany (FRG) | 21.51 | |
| 4 | Oumar Fye | Gambia (GAM) | 22.30 | |
| 5 | Sikendar Iqbal | Pakistan (PAK) | 22.91 | |
| | Peni Bati | Fiji (FIJ) | | DNS |
| | Don Quarrie | Jamaica (JAM) | | DNS |

#### Heat 8 (wind +1.3 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jean-Jacques Boussemart | France (FRA) | 20.99 | Q |
| 2 | Luke Watson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 21.20 | Q |
| 3 | Alfred Nyambane | Kenya (KEN) | 21.21 | Q |
| 4 | Neville Hodge | U.S. Virgin Islands (ISV) | 21.38 | q |
| 5 | Larry Myricks | United States (USA) | 21.74 | |
| 6 | Georges Taniel | Vanuatu (VAN) | 22.28 | |
| 7 | José Flores | Honduras (HON) | 22.94 | |

### Quarterfinals

The qualifying heats took place on 12 August, with the 32 athletes involved being split into 4 heats. The first 4 athletes in each heat ( Q ) qualified for the semifinals.

#### Heat 1 (wind +2.1 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Calvin Smith | United States (USA) | 20.60w | Q |
| 2 | João Batista da Silva | Brazil (BRA) | 20.65w | Q |
| 3 | Allan Wells | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 20.81w | Q |
| 4 | Jean-Jacques Boussemart | France (FRA) | 20.86w | Q |
| 5 | Ángel Heras | Spain (ESP) | 21.25w | |
| 6 | Earl Haley | Guyana (GUY) | 21.39w | |
| 7 | Luis Schneider | Chile (CHI) | 21.39w | |
| | Jae-Keun Chang | South Korea (KOR) | | DNF |

#### Heat 2 (wind –1.6 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Carlo Simionato | Italy (ITA) | 20.75 | Q, CR |
| 2. | Desai Williams | Canada (CAN) | 20.87 | Q |
| 3. | Boubacar Diallo | Senegal (SEN) | 20.97 | Q |
| 4. | Cameron Sharp | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 20.99 | Q |
| 5. | Patrick Barré | France (FRA) | 21.12 | |
| 6. | Paul Narracott | Australia (AUS) | 21.34 | |
| 7. | Alfred Nyambane | Kenya (KEN) | 21.55 | |
| 8. | Christopher Madzokere | Zimbabwe (ZIM) | 21.55 | |

#### Heat 3 (wind –0.4 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Frank Emmelmann | East Germany (GDR) | 20.78 | Q |
| 2 | Leroy Reid | Jamaica (JAM) | 20.88 | Q |
| 3 | Innocent Egbunike | Nigeria (NGR) | 20.91 | Q |
| 4 | Sergey Sokolov | Soviet Union (URS) | 20.93 | Q |
| 5 | Atlee Mahorn | Canada (CAN) | 21.13 | |
| 6 | Christopher Brathwaite | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 21.14 | |
| 7 | Andreas Rizzi | West Germany (FRG) | 21.37 | |
| 8 | István Nagy | Hungary (HUN) | 21.52 | |

#### Heat 4 (wind +1.6 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Pietro Mennea | Italy (ITA) | 20.68 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Vladimir Muravyov | Soviet Union (URS) | 20.70 | Q |
| 3 | Elliott Quow | United States (USA) | 20.80 | Q |
| 4 | Bruce Frayne | Australia (AUS) | 20.97 | Q |
| 5 | Luke Watson | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 20.99 | |
| 6 | Roland Jokl | Austria (AUT) | 21.24 | |
| 7 | Neville Hodge | U.S. Virgin Islands (ISV) | 21.38 | |
| | Hector Daley | Panama (PAN) | | DNS |

### Semifinals

The semifinals took place on 13 August, with the 16 athletes involved being split into 2 heats. The first 4 athletes in each heat ( Q ) qualified for the final.

#### Heat 1 (wind +3.4 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | João Batista da Silva | Brazil (BRA) | 20.56w | Q |
| 2 | Frank Emmelmann | East Germany (GDR) | 20.63w | Q |
| 3 | Pietro Mennea | Italy (ITA) | 20.68w | Q |
| 4 | Elliott Quow | United States (USA) | 20.69w | Q |
| 5 | Cameron Sharp | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 20.69w | |
| 6 | Desai Williams | Canada (CAN) | 20.71w | |
| 7 | Leroy Reid | Jamaica (JAM) | 20.89w | |
| 8 | Sergey Sokolov | Soviet Union (URS) | 20.89w | |

#### Heat 2 (wind +1.4 m/s)

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Calvin Smith | United States (USA) | 20.29 | Q, CR |
| 2 | Carlo Simionato | Italy (ITA) | 20.60 | Q |
| 3 | Innocent Egbunike | Nigeria (NGR) | 20.63 | Q |
| 4 | Allan Wells | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 20.63 | Q |
| 5 | Vladimir Muravyov | Soviet Union (URS) | 20.71 | |
| 6 | Jean-Jacques Boussemart | France (FRA) | 20.76 | |
| 7 | Bruce Frayne | Australia (AUS) | 20.94 | |
| 8 | Boubacar Diallo | Senegal (SEN) | 20.96 | |

### Final

The final took place on August 14. Wind: +1.2 m/s
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 3 | Calvin Smith | United States (USA) | 20.14 | CR |
| | 6 | Elliott Quow | United States (USA) | 20.41 | |
| | 5 | Pietro Mennea | Italy (ITA) | 20.51 | |
| 4 | 4 | Allan Wells | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 20.52 | |
| 5 | 7 | Frank Emmelmann | East Germany (GDR) | 20.55 | |
| 6 | 2 | Innocent Egbunike | Nigeria (NGR) | 20.63 | |
| 7 | 1 | Carlo Simionato | Italy (ITA) | 20.69 | |
| 8 | 8 | João Batista da Silva | Brazil (BRA) | 20.80 | |