# Short-track speed skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Men's 500 metres

The men's 500 metres in short track speed skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics took place on 19 and 21 February at the White Ring.

## Results
### Heats

The first round was held on 19 February. There were eight heats, with the top two finishers moving on to the quarterfinals.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | An Yulong | China | 43.748 | Q |
| 2 | Andy Gabel | United States | 43.899 | Q |
| 3 | Yevhen Yakovlev | Ukraine | 44.041 | |
| 4 | Han Sang-guk | North Korea | 44.206 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | François Drolet | Canada | 43.551 | Q |
| 2 | Kim Dong-sung | South Korea | 43.653 | Q |
| 3 | Martin Johansson | Sweden | 44.003 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Dave Versteeg | Netherlands | 44.358 | Q |
| 2 | Feng Kai | China | 44.817 | Q |
| 3 | Maciej Pryczek | Poland | 46.652 | |
| 4 | Nicky Gooch | Great Britain | 68.907 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Li Jiajun | China | 43.831 | Q |
| 2 | Maurizio Carnino | Italy | 43.927 | Q |
| 3 | Rusty Smith | United States | 44.584 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Lee Jun-hwan | South Korea | 43.840 | Q |
| 2 | Marc Gagnon | Canada | 43.901 | Q |
| 3 | Arian Nachbar | Germany | 44.882 | |
| 4 | Yun Chol | North Korea | 45.014 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Satoru Terao | Japan | 42.948 | Q OR |
| 2 | Chae Ji-hoon | South Korea | 43.011 | Q |
| 3 | Steven Bradbury | Australia | 43.766 | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Éric Bédard | Canada | 43.342 | Q |
| 2 | Hitoshi Uematsu | Japan | 43.428 | Q |
| 3 | Dan Weinstein | United States | 43.492 | |
| 4 | Ludovic Mathieu | France | 43.767 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Fabio Carta | Italy | 43.000 | Q |
| 2 | Takafumi Nishitani | Japan | 43.348 | Q |
| 3 | Bruno Loscos | France | 43.725 | |
| 4 | Battulgyn Oktyabri | Mongolia | 50.466 | |

### Quarterfinals

The top two finishers in each of the four quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals. In quarterfinal 2, American Andy Gabel was advanced, and Canada's François Drolet disqualified.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Marc Gagnon | Canada | 43.254 | Q |
| 2 | Hitoshi Uematsu | Japan | 43.657 | Q |
| 3 | Fabio Carta | Italy | 43.763 | |
| 4 | Lee Jun-hwan | South Korea | 44.417 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | An Yulong | China | 43.384 | Q |
| 2 | Chae Ji-hoon | South Korea | 43.622 | Q |
| 3 | Andy Gabel | United States | 44.124 | ADV |
| – | François Drolet | Canada | DSQ | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Li Jiajun | China | 42.861 | Q OR |
| 2 | Takafumi Nishitani | Japan | 42.980 | Q |
| 3 | Éric Bédard | Canada | 43.113 | |
| 4 | Maurizio Carnino | Italy | 43.225 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Dave Versteeg | Netherlands | 43.377 | Q |
| 2 | Kim Dong-sung | South Korea | 43.810 | Q |
| 3 | Feng Kai | China | 44.384 | |
| 4 | Satoru Terao | Japan | 65.470 | |

### Semifinals

The top two finishers in each of the two semifinals qualified for the A final, while the third and fourth place skaters advanced to the B Final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Hitoshi Uematsu | Japan | 43.697 | QA |
| 2 | An Yulong | China | 43.796 | QA |
| 3 | Dave Versteeg | Netherlands | 43.850 | QB |
| 4 | Chae Ji-hoon | South Korea | 43.864 | QB |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Takafumi Nishitani | Japan | 42.756 | QA OR |
| 2 | Marc Gagnon | Canada | 42.780 | QA |
| 3 | Kim Dong-sung | South Korea | 43.096 | QB |
| 4 | Andy Gabel | United States | 59.811 | QB |
| – | Li Jiajun | China | DSQ | |

### Finals

The four qualifying skaters competed in Final A, while four others raced for 5th place in Final B.

#### Final A

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| | Takafumi Nishitani | Japan | 42.862 |
| | An Yulong | China | 43.022 |
| | Hitoshi Uematsu | Japan | 43.713 |
| 4 | Marc Gagnon | Canada | 75.600 |

#### Final B

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 5 | Chae Ji-hoon | South Korea | 42.832 |
| 6 | Dave Versteeg | Netherlands | 42.933 |
| 7 | Andy Gabel | United States | 43.072 |
| 8 | Kim Dong-sung | South Korea | 43.090 |