# Short-track speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics – Women's 500 metres

The women's 500 metres in short track speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics took place on 24 February at the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre.

## Results
### Heats

The first round was held on 24 February. There were eight heats, with the top two finishers moving on to the quarterfinals.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wang Xiulan | China | 47.32 | Q |
| 2 | Nathalie Lambert | Canada | 47.38 | Q |
| 3 | Evgeniya Radanova | Bulgaria | 50.67 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Cathy Turner | United States | 46.22 | Q |
| 2 | Won Hye-kyung | South Korea | 48.08 | Q |
| 3 | Anke Jannie Landman | Netherlands | 48.36 | |
| 4 | Bea Pintens | Belgium | 49.59 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sylvie Daigle | Canada | 46.98 | Q |
| 2 | Chun Lee-kyung | South Korea | 47.14 | Q |
| 3 | Yelena Tikhanina | Russia | 47.79 | |
| 4 | Debbie Palmer | Great Britain | 47.93 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Isabelle Charest | Canada | 46.92 | Q |
| 2 | Sandrine Daudet | France | 49.06 | Q |
| 3 | Barbara Baldissera | Italy | 79.96 | |
| – | Sofie Pintens | Belgium | DQ | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ayako Tsubaki | Japan | 48.49 | Q |
| 2 | Karen Gardiner-Kah | Australia | 48.56 | Q |
| 3 | Viktoriya Troitskaya-Taranina | Russia | 48.59 | |
| 4 | Valérie Barizza | France | 50.30 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Marinella Canclini | Italy | 47.19 | Q |
| 2 | Kim So-hee | South Korea | 47.77 | Q |
| 3 | Yelena Sinitsina | Kazakhstan | 50.36 | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Yang Yang (S) | China | 47.23 | Q |
| 2 | Marina Pylayeva | Russia | 47.47 | Q |
| 3 | Katia Mosconi | Italy | 47.90 | |
| 4 | Penèlope di Lella | Netherlands | 48.44 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Amy Peterson | United States | 47.02 | Q |
| 2 | Zhang Yanmei | China | 47.35 | Q |
| 3 | Laure Drouet | France | 50.47 | |
| 4 | Cindy Meyer | South Africa | 77.18 | |

### Quarterfinals

The top two finishers in each of the four quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Isabelle Charest | Canada | 47.25 | Q |
| 2 | Yang Yang (S) | China | 47.25 | Q |
| 3 | Karen Gardiner-Kah | Australia | 47.90 | |
| 4 | Chun Lee-kyung | South Korea | 69.56 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Amy Peterson | United States | 46.59 | Q OR |
| 2 | Zhang Yanmei | China | 46.64 | Q |
| 3 | Sandrine Daudet | France | 47.97 | |
| 4 | Marinella Canclini | Italy | 88.77 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Kim So-hee | South Korea | 46.97 | Q |
| 2 | Cathy Turner | United States | 47.24 | Q |
| 3 | Ayako Tsubaki | Japan | 47.51 | |
| 4 | Nathalie Lambert | Canada | 65.45 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wang Xiulan | China | 48.40 | Q |
| 2 | Won Hye-kyung | South Korea | 48.87 | Q |
| 3 | Sylvie Daigle | Canada | 55.59 | |
| – | Marina Pylayeva | Russia | DQ | |

### 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 | Zhang Yanmei | China | 46.01 | QA OR |
| 2 | Amy Peterson | United States | 46.28 | QA |
| 3 | Kim So-hee | South Korea | 46.36 | QB |
| – | Yang Yang (S) | China | DQ | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Cathy Turner | United States | 47.54 | QA |
| 2 | Won Hye-kyung | South Korea | 47.63 | QA |
| 3 | Wang Xiulan | China | 48.00 | QB |
| – | Isabelle Charest | Canada | DQ | |

### 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 | Notes |
| | Cathy Turner | United States | 45.98 | OR |
| | Zhang Yanmei | China | 46.44 | |
| | Amy Peterson | United States | 46.76 | |
| 4 | Won Hye-kyung | South Korea | 47.60 | |

#### Final B

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 5 | Kim So-hee | South Korea | 49.01 | |
| 6 | Wang Xiulan | China | 49.03 | |