These are the official results of the Women's Discus Throw event at the 1987 World ChampionshipsinRome, Italy. There were a total number of 23 participating athletes, with the final held on Monday August 31, 1987.
| Gold |  Martina HellmannEast Germany (GDR) |
| Silver | Diana Gansky East Germany (GDR) |
| Bronze |  Tsvetanka KhristovaBulgaria (BUL) |
| Qualification Round | |
|---|---|
| Group A | Group B |
| 30.08.1987 – ??:??h | 30.08.1987 – ??:??h |
| Final Round | |
| 31.08.1987 – 18:00h | |
| 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 |
| Standing records prior to the 1987 World Athletics Championships | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Record |  Zdeňka Šilhavá (TCH) |
74.56 m | August 26, 1984 | Nitra, Czechoslovakia
|
| Event Record | Martina Hellmann (GDR) |
68.94 m | August 10, 1983 |  Helsinki, Finland
|
| Broken records during the 1987 World Athletics Championships | ||||
| Event Record | Martina Opitz-Hellmann (GDR) |
71.62 m | August 31, 1987 |  Rome, Italy
|
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 1 | 5 | Diana Gansky (GDR) |
63.64 m | |||
| 2 | 6 | Svetla Mitkova (BUL) |
62.80 m | |||
| 3 | 7 |  Larisa Mikhalchenko (URS) |
62.52 m | |||
| 4 | 9 |  Maritza Martén (CUB) |
60.40 m | |||
| 5 | 10 |  Connie Price-Smith (USA) |
59.90 m | |||
| 6 | 11 |  Mariana Lengyel (ROU) |
59.72 m | |||
| 7 | 16 | Anne Paavolainen-Kansakangas (FIN) |
57.10 m | |||
| 8 | 17 |  Yu Hourun (CHN) |
56.70 m | |||
| 9 | 20 |  Nabila Mouelhi (TUN) |
45.94 m | |||
| 10 | 21 |  Hanane Ahmed Khaled (EGY) |
42.64 m | |||
| 11 | 22 |  Dorie Cortejo (PHI) |
40.98 m | |||
| 12 | 23 |  Morgyn Warner (ZIM) |
38.56 m | |||
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 1 | 1 | Ilke Wyludda (GDR) |
68.40 m | |||
| 2 | 2 | Tsvetanka Khristova (BUL) |
66.86 m | |||
| 3 | 3 | Martina Hellmann (GDR) |
66.80 m | |||
| 4 | 4 | Zdeňka Šilhavá (TCH) |
64.64 m | |||
| 5 | 8 | Larisa Korotkevich (URS) |
60.48 m | |||
| 6 | 12 |  Renata Katewicz (POL) |
58.88 m | |||
| 7 | 13 | Carol Cady (USA) |
58.50 m | |||
| 8 | 14 | Hou Xuemei (CHN) |
58.26 m | |||
| 9 | 15 | Anne Salak-Khorina (URS) |
57.76 m | |||
| 10 | 18 |  María Isabel Urrutia (COL) |
53.94 m | |||
| 11 | 19 | Maria Marello (ITA) |
52.74 m | |||
| Rank | Athlete | Attempts | Distance | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
 |
Martina Hellmann (GDR) |
71.08 | 68.90 | 69.66 | 71.62 | X | 67.86 | 71.62 m | CR |
 |
Diana Gansky (GDR) |
66.64 | 67.50 | 70.12 | 68.78 | 65.42 | X | 70.12 m | |
 |
Tsvetanka Khristova (BUL) |
63.72 | 66.10 | 65.38 | 63.36 | 68.82 | 68.80 | 68.82 m | |
| 4 | Ilke Wyludda (GDR) |
68.20 | 62.60 | 62.06 | 67.64 | 67.06 | 67.44 | 68.20 m | |
| 5 | Svetla Mitkova (BUL) |
64.86 | 65.44 | 65.48 | 65.58 | X | 66.58 | 66.58 m | |
| 6 | Zdeňka Šilhavá (TCH) |
64.34 | 64.82 | X | 64.46 | 64.03 | 63.88 | 64.82 m | |
| 7 | Larisa Mikhalchenko (URS) |
64.18 | 64.72 | 59.72 | 63.66 | 60.68 | 63.54 | 64.72 m | PB |
| 8 | Mariana Lengyel (ROU) |
62.30 | 59.28 | 59.54 | X | 58.14 | 60.86 | 62.30 m | |
| 9 | Maritza Martén (CUB) |
62.00 m | |||||||
| 10 | Larisa Korotkevich (URS) |
60.74 m | |||||||
| 11 | Renata Katewicz (POL) |
58.22 m | |||||||
| — | Connie Price-Smith (USA) |
NM | |||||||