# 2012 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships – Men's 500 metres

The men's 500 metre at the 2012 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships took place on 10 March 2012, at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center.

## Results
### Preliminaries

Top two athletes from each heat qualified for the heats.
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Semen Elistratov | Russia | 42.965 | Q |
| 2 | Edoardo Reggiani | Italy | 43.113 | Q |
| 3 | Lucas Ng | Singapore | 48.911 | |
| 4 | Ievgen Gutenov | Ukraine | 1:14.499 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Simon Cho | United States | 42.319 | Q |
| 2 | Yuzo Takamido | Japan | 42.956 | Q |
| 3 | Bence Olah | Hungary | 43.496 | |
| 4 | Selim Tanrikulu | Turkey | 44.288 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Liang Wenhao | China | 42.207 | Q |
| 2 | Guillaume Bastille | Canada | 42.565 | Q |
| 3 | Nurbergen Zhumagaziyev | Kazakhstan | 43.157 | |
| 4 | Nihad Bašić | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 45.875 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Noh Jin-Kyu | South Korea | 42.510 | Q |
| 2 | Vladislav Bykanov | Israel | 43.401 | Q |
| 3 | Lui Pan To Barton | Hong Kong | 43.470 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Kwak Yoon-Gy | South Korea | 42.611 | Q |
| 2 | Jakub Jaworski | Poland | 43.055 | Q |
| 3 | Torsten Kröger | Germany | 43.156 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gong Qiuwen | China | 42.543 | Q |
| 2 | Niels Kerstholt | Netherlands | 42.727 | Q |
| 3 | Jose Cavalli | Switzerland | 44.457 | |
| 4 | Kim Ryong-Chol | North Korea | 44.510 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Vladimir Grigorev | Russia | 42.401 | Q |
| 2 | Viktor Knoch | Hungary | 42.421 | Q |
| 3 | Aliaksandr Antanenka | Belarus | 46.256 | |
| 4 | Shung Fan-Yang | Chinese Taipei | 47.330 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Olivier Jean | Canada | 41.525 | Q |
| 2 | Jordan Malone | United States | 42.848 | Q |
| 3 | Kiril Pandov | Bulgaria | 1:07.795 | |
| 4 | Tommaso Dotti | Italy | | PEN |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Chen Dequan | China | 42.318 | Q |
| 2 | Daisuke Uemura | Japan | 43.680 | Q |
| 3 | Jose Ignacio Fazio | Argentina | 45.505 | |
| 4 | Jonathan López | Spain | 46.800 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sin Da-Woon | South Korea | 42.469 | Q |
| 2 | Richard Shoebridge | United Kingdom | 42.544 | Q |
| 3 | Oleksiy Koshelenko | Ukraine | 42.790 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Hamelin | Canada | 41.704 | Q |
| 2 | Jack Whelbourne | United Kingdom | 42.727 | Q |
| 3 | Fedor Andreyev | Kazakhstan | 45.053 | |
| 4 | Alvaro Peña | Spain | 46.412 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Travis Jayner | United States | 43.026 | Q |
| 2 | Jekabs Saulitis | Latvia | 43.264 | Q |
| 3 | Maksim Siarheyu | Belarus | 44.787 | |
| 4 | Om Chol | North Korea | 44.859 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sjinkie Knegt | Netherlands | 42.339 | Q |
| 2 | Robert Seifert | Germany | 42.340 | Q |
| 3 | Pierre Boda | Australia | 42.712 | |
| 4 | Maxime Chataignier | France | 42.736 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Thibaut Fauconnet | France | 42.893 | Q |
| 2 | Lachlan Hay | Australia | 43.767 | Q |
| 3 | Myukerrem Top | Turkey | 45.185 | |
| 4 | Blake Skjellerup | New Zealand | 1:13.655 | |

### Heats

Top two athletes from each heat and the two fastest thirds qualified for the quarterfinals.
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Chen Dequan | China | 41.727 | Q |
| 2 | Vladimir Grigorev | Russia | 41.998 | Q |
| 3 | Richard Shoebridge | United Kingdom | 42.040 | |
| 4 | Jekabs Saulitis | Latvia | 42.804 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Hamelin | Canada | 41.035 | Q |
| 2 | Gong Qiuwen | China | 41.483 | Q |
| 3 | Robert Seifert | Germany | 41.728 | q |
| 4 | Jakub Jaworski | Poland | 42.467 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Noh Jin-Kyu | South Korea | 42.581 | Q |
| 2 | Guillaume Bastille | Canada | 42.855 | Q |
| 3 | Thibaut Fauconnet | France | 1:26.160 | ADV |
| 4 | Jack Whelbourne | United Kingdom | | PEN |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Liang Wenhao | China | 42.023 | Q |
| 2 | Niels Kerstholt | Netherlands | 42.096 | Q |
| 3 | Vladislav Bykanov | Israel | 42.717 | |
| 4 | Sin Da-Woon | South Korea | 1:10.553 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Kwak Yoon-Gy | South Korea | 42.105 | Q |
| 2 | Yuzo Takamido | Japan | 42.241 | Q |
| 3 | Edoardo Reggiani | Italy | 42.662 | |
| 4 | Travis Jayner | United States | 58.536 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Olivier Jean | Canada | 41.390 | Q |
| 2 | Jordan Malone | United States | 41.532 | Q |
| 3 | Semen Elistratov | Russia | 41.600 | q |
| 4 | Viktor Knoch | Hungary | 42.272 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Simon Cho | United States | 41.743 | Q |
| 2 | Sjinkie Knegt | Netherlands | 41.776 | Q |
| 3 | Daisuke Uemura | Japan | 42.621 | |
| 4 | Lachlan Hay | Australia | 46.502 | |

### Quarterfinals

Top two athletes from each heat qualified for the semifinals.
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Robert Seifert | Germany | 41.894 | Q |
| 2 | Simon Cho | United States | 42.329 | Q |
| 3 | Noh Jin-Kyu | South Korea | 43.157 | |
| 4 | Gong Qiuwen | China | 53.947 | ADV |
| 5 | Thibaut Fauconnet | France | | PEN |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Hamelin | Canada | 41.290 | Q |
| 2 | Niels Kerstholt | Netherlands | 41.548 | Q |
| 3 | Liang Wenhao | China | 57.322 | ADV |
| 4 | Vladimir Grigorev | Russia | | PEN |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Olivier Jean | Canada | 41.381 | Q |
| 2 | Sjinkie Knegt | Netherlands | 42.410 | Q |
| 3 | Semen Elistratov | Russia | 42.560 | |
| 4 | Yuzo Takamido | Japan | 42.668 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Guillaume Bastille | Canada | 42.382 | Q |
| 2 | Kwak Yoon-Gy | South Korea | 42.461 | Q |
| 3 | Jordan Malone | United States | 43.392 | ADV |
| 4 | Chen Dequan | China | | PEN |

### Semifinals

Top two athletes from each heat qualified for the final.
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Hamelin | Canada | 41.894 | Q |
| 2 | Sjinkie Knegt | Netherlands | 42.329 | Q |
| 3 | Gong Qiuwen | China | 43.157 | |
| 4 | Robert Seifert | Germany | 53.947 | ADV |
| 5 | Simon Cho | United States | | PEN |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Olivier Jean | Canada | 41.351 | Q |
| 2 | Kwak Yoon-Gy | South Korea | 41.583 | Q |
| 3 | Guillaume Bastille | Canada | 41.664 | |
| 4 | Jordan Malone | United States | 42.964 | |
| 5 | Liang Wenhao | China | 1:03.588 | |
| 6 | Niels Kerstholt | Netherlands | | PEN |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time |
| | Olivier Jean | Canada | 41.077 |
| | Charles Hamelin | Canada | 41.186 |
| | Kwak Yoon-Gy | South Korea | 41.479 |
| 4 | Robert Seifert | Germany | 41.574 |
| 5 | Sjinkie Knegt | Netherlands | 59.578 |