# 1983 World Championships in Athletics – Men's javelin throw

The Men's Javelin Throw event at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland had a total number of 18 participating athletes, with the final held on 12 August 1983. All results were made with old rules javelin. The qualification mark was set at 84.00 metres.

## Medalists

| Gold | Detlef Michel East Germany (GDR) |
| Silver | Tom Petranoff United States (USA) |
| Bronze | Dainis Kūla Soviet Union (URS) |

## Schedule

* All times are Eastern European Time (UTC+2)
Qualification Round :
| Group A | Group B |
| 10.08.1983 – 10:00h | 10.08.1983 – 11:40h |
| Final Round ||
| 12.08.1983 – 18:55h ||

## Abbreviations

* All results shown are in metres
| Q | automatic qualification |
| q | qualification by rank |
| DNS | did not start |
| NM | no mark |
| WR | world record |
| AR | area record |
| NR | national record |
| PB | personal best |
| SB | season best |

## Startlist

* World list as of August 6, 1983, just before the start of the competition
* Competing at the 1983 World Athletics Championships
| Rank | Athlete | Seasons Best | Personal Best |
| 1 | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 99.72 m | 88.40 m |
| 2 | Detlef Michel (GDR) | 96.72 m | 94.52 m |
| 3 | Heino Puuste (URS) | 94.20 m | 90.72 m |
| 4 | Dainis Kūla (URS) | 91.88 m | 92.06 m |
| 5 | Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG) | 91.44 m | 89.78 m |
| 6 | Koos van der Merwe (RSA) | 91.24 m | 88.62 m |
| 7 | Pentti Sinersaari (FIN) | 90.90 m | 93.84 m |
| 8 | Einar Vilhjálmsson (ISL) | 90.66 m | 81.22 m |
| 9 | Mike O'Rourke (NZL) | 90.58 m | 89.58 m |
| 10 | Mike Barnett (USA) | 90.36 m | 80.86 m |
| 11 | Per Erling Olsen (NOR) | 90.30 m | 88.02 m |
| 12 | Jorma Markus (FIN) | 89.72 m | 90.18 m |
| 13 | Agostino Ghesini (ITA) | 89.12 m | 82.52 m |
| 14 | Vasiliy Yershov (URS) | 89.02 m | 89.00 m |
| 15 | Rod Ewaliko (USA) | 88.50 m | 88.70 m |
| 16 | Viktor Yevsyukov (URS) | 88.10 m | 87.50 m |
| 17 | Ramón González (CUB) | 87.90 m | 75.02 m |
| 18 | Raimo Manninen (FIN) | 87.86 m | 87.58 m |
| 19 | Arto Härkönen (FIN) | 87.80 m | 91.04 m |
| 20 | Dariusz Adamus (POL) | 87.54 m | 87.24 m |
| 21 | Stanisław Górak (POL) | 87.40 m | 84.08 m |
| 22 | Aimo Aho (FIN) | 87.28 m | 89.42 m |
| 23 | Esa Utriainen (FIN) | 87.28 m | 90.94 m |
| 24 | Janis Zirnis (URS) | 87.20 m | 89.48 m |
| 25 | Kenth Eldebrink (SWE) | 86.86 m | 90.00 m |
| 26 | Herman Potgieter (RSA) | 86.78 m | 88.62 m |
| 27 | Gerald Weiß (GDR) | 86.28 m | 89.56 m |
| 28 | Laslo Babits (CAN) | 86.08 m | 84.88 m |

## Records

Standing records prior to the 1983 World Athletics Championships :
| World Record | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 99.72 m | May 15, 1983 | Los Angeles, United States |
| Event Record | New event | New event | New event | New event |
| Season Best | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 99.72 m | May 15, 1983 | Los Angeles, United States |

## Qualification
### Group A

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance |
| 1 | 2 | Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG) | X | 88.86 | — | 88.86 m |
| 2 | 5 | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 85.68 | — | — | 85.68 m |
| 3 | 8 | Esa Utriainen (FIN) | 76.18 | 84.22 | — | 84.22 m |
| 4 | 9 | Dainis Kūla (URS) | 78.58 | X | 83.16 | 83.16 m |
| 5 | 11 | Rod Ewaliko (USA) | 82.68 | 79.38 | 76.46 | 82.68 m |
| 6 | 12 | Aimo Aho (FIN) | 72.60 | 81.92 | 79.66 | 81.92 m |
| 7 | 13 | Einar Vilhjálmsson (ISL) | 81.72 | 77.08 | X | 81.72 m |
| 8 | 17 | Zakayo Malekwa (TAN) | 72.92 | X | 72.80 | 72.92 m |
| 9 | 18 | Trevor Modeste (GRN) | X | 51.84 | X | 51.84 m |

### Group B

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance |
| 1 | 1 | Detlef Michel (GDR) | 90.40 | — | — | 90.40 m |
| 2 | 3 | Bob Roggy (USA) | 73.30 | 86.16 | — | 86.16 m |
| 3 | 4 | Heino Puuste (URS) | 82.18 | 85.86 | — | 85.86 m |
| 4 | 6 | Kenth Eldebrink (SWE) | 85.64 | — | — | 85.64 m |
| 5 | 7 | Zdeněk Adamec (TCH) | 83.42 | 84.54 | — | 84.54 m |
| 6 | 10 | Per Erling Olsen (NOR) | 82.72 | X | 83.10 | 83.10 m |
| 7 | 14 | Arto Härkönen (FIN) | 81.42 | 80.22 | 77.76 | 81.42 m |
| 8 | 15 | Mike O'Rourke (NZL) | 75.32 | X | X | 75.32 m |
| 9 | 16 | Laslo Babits (CAN) | 74.16 | X | X | 74.16 m |

## Final

| Rank | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Distance |
| | Detlef Michel (GDR) | 88.96 | 89.48 | 88.74 | X | X | 86.70 | 89.48 m |
| | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 80.38 | 85.60 | 85.30 | X | X | X | 85.60 m |
| | Dainis Kūla (URS) | 85.58 | 80.70 | 82.78 | 82.42 | 83.08 | X | 85.58 m |
| 4 | Heino Puuste (URS) | 77.04 | 78.86 | 84.56 | 79.00 | 70.16 | 81.66 | 84.56 m |
| 5 | Per Erling Olsen (NOR) | X | 81.72 | 83.54 | 77.60 | 74.92 | X | 83.54 m |
| 6 | Kenth Eldebrink (SWE) | 83.28 | 78.84 | X | 78.94 | X | 77.26 | 83.28 m |
| 7 | Zdeněk Adamec (TCH) | 81.30 | X | X | X | 75.62 | X | 81.30 m |
| 8 | Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG) | 75.06 | 80.42 | X | X | X | X | 80.42 m |
| 9 | Bob Roggy (USA) | 79.84 | 78.02 | 74.82 | | | | 79.84 m |
| 10 | Aimo Aho (FIN) | 79.34 | X | 78.08 | | | | 79.34 m |
| 11 | Rod Ewaliko (USA) | 76.58 | 76.46 | 77.74 | | | | 77.74 m |
| 12 | Esa Utriainen (FIN) | X | 76.66 | X | | | | 76.66 m |