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

The women's 500 metres in short track speed skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics took place on 19 February at the White Ring. It featured an uncommon occurrence, as two finalists failed to finish (one was disqualified), meaning that the winner of the B Final, Chun Lee-kyung, won a bronze medal. A consequence of this is that Chun actually recorded a faster time in the final than the two women who won medals ahead of her.

## 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 | Chikage Tanaka | Japan | 46.768 | Q |
| 2 | Jong Ok-myong | North Korea | 46.835 | Q |
| 3 | Yvonne Kunze | Germany | 46.887 | |
| 4 | Erin Porter | United States | 64.113 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Chun Lee-kyung | South Korea | 48.024 | Q |
| 2 | Erin Gleason | United States | 48.767 | Q |
| 3 | Ellen Wiegers | Netherlands | 56.250 | |
| 4 | Tania Vicent | Canada | 70.212 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wang Chunlu | China | 45.655 | Q OR |
| 2 | Annie Perreault | Canada | 45.866 | Q |
| 3 | Barbara Baldissera | Italy | 46.113 | |
| – | Han Ryon-hui | North Korea | DNF | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ikue Teshigawara | Japan | 47.354 | Q |
| 2 | Kim Yun-mi | South Korea | 48.184 | Q |
| 3 | Melanie de Lange | Netherlands | 48.598 | |
| 4 | Susanne Busch | Germany | 90.607 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Yang Yang (A) | China | 46.815 | Q |
| 2 | Yelena Tikhanina | Russia | 46.980 | Q |
| 3 | Hwang Ok-sil | North Korea | 46.987 | |
| 4 | Anke Jannie Landman | Netherlands | 47.090 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Evgeniya Radanova | Bulgaria | 45.977 | Q |
| 2 | Choi Min-kyung | South Korea | 46.126 | Q |
| 3 | Nataliya Sverchikova | Ukraine | 46.976 | |
| 4 | Marinella Canclini | Italy | 74.224 | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Yang Yang (S) | China | 46.136 | Q |
| 2 | Mara Urbani | Italy | 46.287 | Q |
| 3 | Amy Peterson | United States | 46.764 | |
| 4 | Janet Daly | Australia | 49.158 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Isabelle Charest | Canada | 46.085 | Q |
| 2 | Marina Pylayeva | Russia | 46.359 | Q |
| 3 | Daniela Vlaeva | Bulgaria | 46.681 | |
| 4 | Ayako Tsubaki | Japan | 46.950 | |

### Quarterfinals

The top two finishers in each of the four quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals. In quarterfinal 2, Japan's Chikage Tanaka was advanced, and North Korea's Jong Ok-myong disqualified. In quarterfinal 3, Japan's Ikue Teshigawara was advanced and Bulgaria's Evgeniya Radanova disqualified.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Choi Min-kyung | South Korea | 46.033 | Q |
| 2 | Isabelle Charest | Canada | 46.194 | Q |
| 3 | Yelena Tikhanina | Russia | 46.206 | |
| – | Yang Yang (A) | China | DQ | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Annie Perreault | Canada | 46.421 | Q |
| 2 | Yang Yang (S) | China | 46.578 | Q |
| 3 | Chikage Tanaka | Japan | 56.798 | ADV |
| – | Jong Ok-myong | North Korea | DQ | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mara Urbani | Italy | 46.215 | Q |
| 2 | Kim Yun-mi | South Korea | 46.640 | Q |
| 3 | Ikue Teshigawara | Japan | 52.693 | ADV |
| – | Evgeniya Radanova | Bulgaria | DQ | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wang Chunlu | China | 46.091 | Q |
| 2 | Chun Lee-kyung | South Korea | 46.163 | Q |
| 3 | Marina Pylayeva | Russia | 46.220 | |
| 4 | Erin Gleason | United States | 46.425 | |

### 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 | Isabelle Charest | Canada | 44.991 | QA OR |
| 2 | Yang Yang (S) | China | 45.101 | QA |
| 3 | Choi Min-kyung | South Korea | 46.000 | QB |
| 4 | Mara Urbani | Italy | 46.473 | QB |
| 5 | Chikage Tanaka | Japan | 46.497 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Annie Perreault | Canada | 45.612 | QA |
| 2 | Wang Chunlu | China | 45.655 | QA |
| 3 | Ikue Teshigawara | Japan | 45.736 | QB |
| 4 | Chun Lee-kyung | South Korea | 46.168 | QB |
| 5 | Kim Yun-mi | South Korea | 47.337 | |

### Finals

The four qualifying skaters competed in Final A, while four others raced for 5th place in Final B. The disqualification of Isabelle Charest and Wang Chunlu's failure to finish resulted in the bronze medal being awarded to the winner of Final B.

#### Final A

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| | Annie Perreault | Canada | 46.568 |
| | Yang Yang (S) | China | 46.627 |
| – | Isabelle Charest | Canada | DQ |
| – | Wang Chunlu | China | DNF |

#### Final B

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| | Chun Lee-kyung | South Korea | 46.335 |
| 4 | Choi Min-kyung | South Korea | 46.504 |
| 5 | Mara Urbani | Italy | 46.687 |
| 6 | Ikue Teshigawara | Japan | 46.889 |