# 1983 World Championships in Athletics – Women's discus throw

These are the official results of the Women's Discus Throw event at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. There were a total of 21 participating athletes, with the final held on Sunday August 14, 1983.

## Medalists

| Gold | Martina Opitz East Germany (GDR) |
| Silver | Galina Murašova Soviet Union (URS) |
| Bronze | Mariya Petkova Bulgaria (BUL) |

## Schedule

* All times are Eastern European Time (UTC+2)
Qualification Round :
| Group A | Group B |
| 09.08.1983 – ??:??h | 09.08.1983 – ??:??h |
| Final Round ||
| 14.08.1983 – ??:??h ||

## 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 |

## Records

Standing records prior to the 1983 World Athletics Championships :
| World Record | Galina Savinkova (URS) | 73.26 m | May 22, 1983 | Leselidze, Soviet Union |
| Event Record | New event | New event | New event | New event |

## Qualification
### Group A

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance |
| 1 | 1 | Mariya Petkova (BUL) | 58.28 | 65.84 | — | 65.84 m |
| 2 | 2 | Zdeňka Šilhavá (TCH) | 64.68 | — | — | 64.68 m |
| 3 | 3 | Martina Opitz (GDR) | 64.66 | — | — | 64.66 m |
| 4 | 5 | Galina Murašova (URS) | 64.00 | — | — | 64.00 m |
| 5 | 9 | Svetla Mitkova (BUL) | X | 60.58 | 57.38 | 60.58 m |
| 6 | 11 | Meg Ritchie (GBR) | 59.28 | X | 55.92 | 59.28 m |
| 7 | 12 | Maria Badea (ROU) | 56.60 | X | 57.82 | 57.82 m |
| 8 | 15 | Anne Paavolainen (FIN) | 50.54 | 50.72 | 54.92 | 54.92 m |
| 9 | 16 | Li Xiaohui (CHN) | 52.92 | 51.62 | 54.58 | 54.58 m |
| 10 | 20 | Maryline Adam (VAN) | 33.36 | X | 31.88 | 33.36 m |

### Group B

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance |
| 1 | 4 | Gisela Beyer (GDR) | 64.14 | — | — | 64.14 m |
| 2 | 6 | Galina Savinkova (URS) | 63.58 | — | — | 63.58 m |
| 3 | 7 | Florența Crăciunescu (ROU) | 61.70 | — | — | 61.70 m |
| 4 | 8 | Tsvetanka Khristova (BUL) | 55.24 | 61.50 | — | 61.50 m |
| 5 | 10 | Ria Stalman (NED) | X | 60.16 | — | 60.16 m |
| 6 | 13 | Ulla Lundholm (FIN) | 53.30 | 57.64 | X | 57.64 m |
| 7 | 14 | Carol Cady (USA) | X | 57.34 | X | 57.34 m |
| 8 | 17 | Venissa Head (GBR) | 53.78 | 51.16 | X | 53.78 m |
| 9 | 18 | Mariette Van Heerden (ZIM) | 44.58 | 45.22 | 44.28 | 45.22 m |
| 10 | 19 | Mereoni Vibose (FIJ) | 42.36 | X | X | 42.36 m |
| — | — | Juliet Cain (NRU) | X | X | X | NM |

## Final

| Rank | Athlete | Throws | Throws | Throws | Throws | Throws | Throws | Final |
| Rank | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Distance |
| | Martina Opitz (GDR) | X | 66.42 | 67.76 | 67.22 | 68.74 | 68.94 | 68.94 m |
| | Galina Murašova (URS) | X | 64.82 | 65.96 | 64.80 | X | 67.44 | 67.44 m |
| | Mariya Petkova (BUL) | 62.48 | 66.44 | X | X | X | X | 66.44 m |
| 4. | Tsvetanka Khristova (BUL) | 65.62 | 65.62 | 63.62 | 62.24 | 63.42 | 62.90 | 65.62 m |
| 5. | Gisela Beyer (GDR) | X | 65.06 | 65.00 | X | 63.84 | 65.26 | 65.26 m |
| 6. | Zdeňka Šilhavá (TCH) | 60.58 | 64.18 | 62.76 | X | 64.32 | X | 64.32 m |
| 7. | Ria Stalman (NED) | 61.48 | 63.76 | 62.42 | 59.50 | 63.20 | 62.92 | 63.76 m |
| 8. | Meg Ritchie (GBR) | 60.66 | 62.50 | 60.50 | 60.64 | X | X | 62.50 m |
| 9. | Florența Crăciunescu (ROU) | 55.56 | X | 62.14 | | | | 62.14 m |
| 10. | Svetla Mitkova (BUL) | 56.50 | 62.06 | 57.44 | | | | 62.06 m |
| 11. | Galina Savinkova (URS) | X | X | 59.28 | | | | 59.28 m |
| 12. | Maria Badea (ROU) | 52.64 | 57.96 | 58.10 | | | | 58.10 m |