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

The men's 500 metres in short track speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics took place on 24 and 26 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 | Richard Nizielski | Australia | 44.86 | Q |
| 2 | Martin Johansson | Sweden | 44.94 | Q |
| 3 | John Coyle | United States | 45.42 | |
| 4 | Li Lianli | China | 63.44 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Marc Gagnon | Canada | 44.69 | Q |
| 2 | Steven Bradbury | Australia | 45.43 | Q |
| 3 | Erik Duyvelshoff | Netherlands | 45.83 | |
| 4 | Wilf O'Reilly | Great Britain | 46.41 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Derrick Campbell | Canada | 44.72 | Q |
| 2 | Lee Joon-ho | South Korea | 45.41 | Q |
| 3 | Bruno Loscos | France | 45.54 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Chae Ji-hoon | South Korea | 44.36 | Q |
| 2 | Jun Uematsu | Japan | 44.50 | Q |
| 3 | Batchuluuny Bat–Orgil | Mongolia | 48.63 | |
| – | Orazio Fagone | Italy | DQ | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Li Jiajun | China | 44.67 | Q |
| 2 | Kim Ki-hoon | South Korea | 45.32 | Q |
| 3 | Igor Ozerov | Russia | 45.48 | |
| 4 | Andrew Nicholson | New Zealand | 54.21 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mirko Vuillermin | Italy | 44.29 | Q |
| 2 | Frédéric Blackburn | Canada | 44.38 | Q |
| 3 | Sergey Kobyzev | Russia | 44.54 | |
| 4 | Eric Flaim | United States | 44.71 | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Nicky Gooch | Great Britain | 44.03 | Q |
| 2 | Andy Gabel | United States | 44.31 | Q |
| 3 | Mike McMillen | New Zealand | 44.98 | |
| 4 | Stephan Huygen | Belgium | 45.04 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Bjørnar Elgetun | Norway | 44.01 | Q OR |
| 2 | Satoru Terao | Japan | 44.88 | Q |
| 3 | Kieran Hansen | Australia | 46.30 | |
| 4 | Chris Nicholson | New Zealand | 63.43 | |

### Quarterfinals

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

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Marc Gagnon | Canada | 43.84 | Q OR |
| 2 | Mirko Vuillermin | Italy | 43.85 | Q |
| 3 | Kim Ki-hoon | South Korea | 44.04 | |
| 4 | Jun Uematsu | Japan | 44.20 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Steven Bradbury | Australia | 44.18 | Q |
| 2 | Nicky Gooch | Great Britain | 44.25 | Q |
| 3 | Satoru Terao | Japan | 44.27 | |
| 4 | Derrick Campbell | Canada | 80.27 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Chae Ji-hoon | South Korea | 44.69 | Q |
| 2 | Martin Johansson | Sweden | 44.96 | Q |
| 3 | Andy Gabel | United States | 48.91 | |
| – | Li Jiajun | China | DQ | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Frédéric Blackburn | Canada | 45.20 | Q |
| 2 | Lee Joon-ho | South Korea | 45.27 | Q |
| 3 | Bjørnar Elgetun | Norway | 45.35 | |
| 4 | Richard Nizielski | Australia | 45.57 | |

### 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 | Mirko Vuillermin | Italy | 43.58 | QA |
| 2 | Chae Ji-hoon | South Korea | 43.72 | QA |
| 3 | Frédéric Blackburn | Canada | 44.40 | QB |
| 4 | Martin Johansson | Sweden | 46.04 | QB |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Marc Gagnon | Canada | 44.08 | QA |
| 2 | Nicky Gooch | Great Britain | 44.40 | QA |
| 3 | Lee Joon-ho | South Korea | 45.97 | QB |
| 4 | Steven Bradbury | Australia | 63.51 | QB |

### 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 |
| | Chae Ji-hoon | South Korea | 43.45 | OR |
| | Mirko Vuillermin | Italy | 43.47 | |
| | Nicky Gooch | Great Britain | 43.68 | |
| 4 | Marc Gagnon | Canada | 52.73 | |

#### Final B

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| 5 | Frédéric Blackburn | Canada | 44.97 |
| 6 | Lee Joon-ho | South Korea | 45.13 |
| 7 | Martin Johansson | Sweden | 45.24 |
| 8 | Steven Bradbury | Australia | 45.33 |