title: 1983 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres hurdles
text: # 1983 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres hurdles
  
  These are the official results of the men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1983 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland. There were a total number of 34 participating athletes, with five qualifying heats, two semi-finals and the final held on 9 August 1983.
  
  ## Medalists
  
  | Gold | Edwin Moses United States (USA) |
  | - | - |
  | Silver | Harald Schmid West Germany (FRG) |
  | Bronze | Aleksandr Kharlov Soviet Union (URS) |
  
  ## Records
  
  Existing records at the start of the event.
  
  | World Record | Edwin Moses (USA) | 47.13 | Milan, Italy | July 3, 1980 |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Championship Record | New event | New event | New event | New event |
  
  ## Final
  
  | RANK | FINAL | TIME |
  | - | - | - |
  | | Edwin Moses (USA) | 47.50 |
  | | Harald Schmid (FRG) | 48.61 |
  | | Aleksandr Kharlov (URS) | 49.03 |
  | 4. | Sven Nylander (SWE) | 49.06 |
  | 5. | Andre Phillips (USA) | 49.24 |
  | 6. | David Lee (USA) | 49.32 |
  | 7. | Amadou Dia Ba (SEN) | 49.61 |
  | 8. | Ryszard Szparak (POL) | 49.78 |
  
  ## Semi-finals
  
  * Held on Monday 1983-08-08
  
  | RANK | HEAT 1 | TIME |
  | - | - | - |
  | 1. | Edwin Moses (USA) | 48.11 |
  | 2. | Andre Phillips (USA) | 48.99 |
  | 3. | Amadou Dia Ba (SEN) | 49.18 |
  | 4. | Aleksandr Kharlov (URS) | 49.75 |
  | 5. | Ahmed Hamada Jassim (BHR) | 50.04 |
  | 6. | Franz Meier (SUI) | 50.31 |
  | 7. | Rik Tommelein (BEL) | 50.54 |
  | — | Toma Tomov (BUL) | DNS |
  | RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
  | 1. | Harald Schmid (FRG) | 48.57 |
  | 2. | David Lee (USA) | 48.63 |
  | 3. | Ryszard Szparak (POL) | 49.17 NR |
  | 4. | Sven Nylander (SWE) | 49.18 |
  | 5. | Daniel Ogidi (NGR) | 49.51 |
  | 6. | José Alonso (ESP) | 49.91 |
  | 7. | Karl Smith (JAM) | 49.99 |
  | 8. | Krasimir Demirev (BUL) | 50.91 |
  
  ## Qualifying heats
  
  * Held on Sunday 1983-08-07
  
  | RANK | HEAT 1 | TIME |
  | - | - | - |
  | 1. | Andre Phillips (USA) | 50.44 |
  | 2. | Rik Tommelein (BEL) | 50.99 |
  | 3. | Gary Oakes (GBR) | 51.23 |
  | 4. | Ian Newhouse (CAN) | 51.45 |
  | 5. | Meshak Munyoro (KEN) | 53.25 |
  | 6. | Paiwa Bogela (PNG) | 54.68 |
  | — | Aleksandr Yatsevich (URS) | DNF |
  | RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
  | 1. | Aleksandr Kharlov (URS) | 50.12 |
  | 2. | Sven Nylander (SWE) | 50.23 |
  | 3. | José Alonso (ESP) | 50.53 |
  | 4. | Vladislav Pecen (TCH) | 50.86 |
  | 5. | István Takács (HUN) | 50.97 |
  | 6. | Peter Rwamuhanda (UGA) | 50.99 |
  | RANK | HEAT 3 | TIME |
  | 1. | David Lee (USA) | 50.15 |
  | 3. | Toma Tomov (BUL) | 50.39 |
  | 3. | Karl Smith (JAM) | 50.64 |
  | 4. | Thomas Futterknecht (AUT) | 50.68 |
  | 5. | Antônio Dias Ferreira (BRA) | 50.76 |
  | 6. | Stephen Sole (GBR) | 51.80 |
  | 7. | Ahmed Abdelhalim Ghanem (EGY) | 52.32 |
  | RANK | HEAT 4 | TIME |
  | 1. | Edwin Moses (USA) | 49.54 |
  | 2. | Daniel Ogidi (NGR) | 50.44 |
  | 3. | Amadou Dia Ba (SEN) | 50.59 |
  | 4. | Krasimir Demirev (BUL) | 50.62 |
  | 5. | Greg Rolle (BAH) | 50.92 |
  | 6. | Rok Kopitar (YUG) | 52.34 |
  | 7. | Carlos Azulay (ESP) | DSQ |
  | RANK | HEAT 5 | TIME |
  | 1. | Harald Schmid (FRG) | 49.99 |
  | 2. | Ryszard Szparak (POL) | 50.09 |
  | 3. | Franz Meier (SUI) | 50.09 |
  | 4. | Ahmed Hamada Jassim (BHR) | 50.53 |
  | 5. | Petter Hesselberg (NOR) | 51.67 |
  | 6. | Georgios Vamvakas (GRE) | 51.92 |
  | 7. | David Charlton (BAH) | 52.02 |
  