# Short-track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Women's 500 metres

The women's 500 metres in short track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics began on 12 February, with the final on 15 February, at the Torino Palavela.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
| World record | Evgenia Radanova (BUL) | 43.671 | Calgary, Canada | 19 October 2001 |
| Olympic record | Yang Yang (A) (CHN) | 44.118 | Salt Lake City, United States | 16 February 2002 |
No new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

## Results
### Heats

The first round was held on 12 February. There were eight heats of three or four skaters each, with the top two finishers moving on to the quarterfinals.

#### Heat 1

| Heat | Rank | Athlete | Country | Result | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Wang Meng | China | 45.011 | Q |
| 1 | 2 | Marta Capurso | Italy | 45.217 | Q |
| 1 | 3 | Joanna Williams | Great Britain | 46.857 | |
| 2 | 1 | Alanna Kraus | Canada | 45.688 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Kang Yun-mi | South Korea | 45.755 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Susanne Rudolph | Germany | 46.503 | |
| 2 | 4 | Katalin Kristo | Romania | 46.531 | |
| 3 | 1 | Evgenia Radanova | Bulgaria | 45.703 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Kateřina Novotná | Czech Republic | 46.279 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Chikage Tanaka | Japan | 46.387 | |
| 4 | 1 | Anouk Leblanc-Boucher | Canada | 45.929 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Hyo-jung Kim | United States | 46.077 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Aika Klein | Germany | 57.732 | |
| 4 | – | Stéphanie Bouvier | France | DQ | |
| 5 | 1 | Fu Tianyu | China | 45.636 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Yuka Kamino | Japan | 45.848 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Rozsa Darazs | Hungary | 1:10.558 | |
| 6 | 1 | Allison Baver | United States | 45.998 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Erika Huszar | Hungary | 46.113 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Yun Jong-suk | North Korea | 46.177 | |
| 6 | 4 | Han Yue Shueng | Hong Kong | 47.087 | |
| 7 | 1 | Kalyna Roberge | Canada | 45.396 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | Arianna Fontana | Italy | 45.398 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Liesbeth Mau Asam | Netherlands | 45.500 | |
| 8 | 1 | Jin Sun-yu | South Korea | 45.954 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Sarah Lindsay | Great Britain | 46.290 | Q |
| 8 | 3 | Julia Elsakova | Belarus | 47.726 | |
| 8 | – | Ri Hyang-mi | North Korea | DQ | |

### Quarterfinals

The top two finishers in each of the four quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals. In quarterfinal #2, Sarah Lindsay of Great Britain was advanced after she was impeded during the race.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Fu Tianyu (CHN) | 44.760 | Q |
| 2 | Anouk Leblanc-Boucher (CAN) | 44.821 | Q |
| 3 | Arianna Fontana (ITA) | 44.948 | |
| 4 | Erika Huszar (HUN) | 45.382 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Wang Meng (CHN) | 45.257 | Q |
| 2 | Allison Baver (USA) | 53.135 | Q |
| 3 | Sarah Lindsay (GBR) | 1:01.289 | |
| – | Kang Yun-mi (KOR) | DQ | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Evgenia Radanova (BUL) | 44.252 | Q |
| 2 | Marta Capurso (ITA) | 44.438 | Q |
| 3 | Alanna Kraus (CAN) | 45.172 | |
| 4 | Hyo-jung Kim (USA) | 45.339 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Kateřina Novotná (CZE) | 45.596 | Q |
| 2 | Kalyna Roberge (CAN) | 45.710 | Q |
| 3 | Jin Sun-yu (KOR) | 46.428 | |
| 4 | Yuka Kamino (JPN) | 47.356 | |

### 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. The fifth-place finisher in semifinal #1, Sarah Lindsay, did not advance.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Fu Tianyu (CHN) | 45.130 | QA |
| 2 | Anouk Leblanc-Boucher (CAN) | 45.234 | QA |
| 3 | Allison Baver (USA) | 45.512 | QB |
| 4 | Kateřina Novotná (CZE) | 45.718 | QB |
| 5 | Sarah Lindsay (GBR) | 46.060 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Wang Meng (CHN) | 44.650 | QA |
| 2 | Evgenia Radanova (BUL) | 44.711 | QA |
| 3 | Kalyna Roberge (CAN) | 44.960 | QB |
| 4 | Marta Capurso (ITA) | 45.204 | QB |

### Finals

Fu Tianyu originally placed third in final A, but was disqualified, moving Anouk Leblanc-Boucher up to third, and the Final B winner, Kalyna Roberge, to fourth.
On 16 February, Canada filed a protest with the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the results of the Final A, but it was dismissed. Evgenia Radanova of Bulgaria, who won the silver, crossed the finish line with part of one of her skates in the air, which is against the rules. This protest would have moved the winner of the B Final, Kalyna Roberge, to the bronze medal place, a bronze medal winner Anouk Leblanc-Boucher up to silver. The CAS ultimately dismissed this appeal, and the results stood.

#### Final A

| Rank | Athlete | Result |
| | Wang Meng (CHN) | 44.345 |
| | Evgenia Radanova (BUL) | 44.374 |
| | Anouk Leblanc-Boucher (CAN) | 44.759 |
| – | Fu Tianyu (CHN) | DQ |

#### Final B

| Rank | Athlete | Result |
| 4 | Kalyna Roberge (CAN) | 46.605 |
| 5 | Marta Capurso (ITA) | 46.899 |
| 6 | Kateřina Novotná (CZE) | 55.378 |
| 7 | Allison Baver (USA) | 55.689 |