1983 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay

The 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on August 13 and August 14.

Records
Existing records at the start of the event.

Heats
All times shown are in minutes.

Heat 1

 * 1) (Roberta Belle, Easter Gabriel, Rosalyn Bryant, Denean Howard) 3:26.82 Q
 * 2) (Charmaine Crooks, Jillian Richardson, Molly Killingbeck, Marita Payne) 3:27.21 Q
 * 3) Czechoslovakia (Milena Matějkovičová, Zuzana Moravčíková, Taťána Kocembová, Jarmila Kratochvílová) 3:27.60 Q
 * 4) West Germany (Rita Daimer, Ute Thimm, Gisela Gottwald, Gaby Bußmann) 3:29.70 q
 * 5) 🇷🇴 Romania (Iulia Radu, Daniela Matei, Cristieana Cojocaru, Elena Lina) 3:30.96 q

Heat 2

 * 1) Soviet Union (Yelena Korban, Marina Ivanova, Irina Baskakova, Mariya Pinigina) 3:28.77 Q
 * 2) East Germany (Kerstin Walther, Undine Bremer, Ellen Fiedler, Sabine Busch) 3:29.05 Q
 * 3) 🇧🇬 Bulgaria (Svobodka Damyanova, Rositsa Stamenova, Katya Ilieva, Galina Penkova) 3:31.11 Q
 * 4) 🇯🇲 Jamaica (Cathy Rattray, Ovrill Dwyer-Brown, Jacqueline Pusey, Grace Jackson) 3:34.17
 * 5) 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico (Madeline De Jesus, Vilma Paris, Margaret De Jesus, Nilsa Paris) 3:42.79

Final

 * 1) East Germany (Kerstin Walther, Sabine Busch, Marita Koch, Dagmar Rübsam) 3:19.73
 * 2) Czechoslovakia (Taťána Kocembová, Milena Matějkovičová, Zuzana Moravčíková, Jarmila Kratochvílová) 3:20.32
 * 3) Soviet Union (Yelena Korban, Marina Ivanova, Irina Baskakova, Mariya Pinigina) 3:21.16
 * 4) (Charmaine Crooks, Jillian Richardson, Molly Killingbeck, Marita Payne) 3:27.41
 * 5) (Roberta Belle, Easter Gabriel, Rosalyn Bryant, Denean Howard) 3:27.57
 * 6) West Germany (Rita Daimer, Ute Thimm, Gisela Gottwald, Gaby Bußmann) 3:29.43
 * 7) 🇧🇬 Bulgaria (Svobodka Damyanova, Rositsa Stamenova, Katya Ilieva, Galina Penkova) 3:30.36
 * 8) 🇷🇴 Romania (Iulia Radu, Daniela Matei, Cristieana Cojocaru, Elena Lina) 3:35.61