The world record progression 500 m speed skating men as recognised by the International Skating Union:
NameResultDateVenueMeeting Oscar Grundén 50.8 28 February 1891 Stockholm Einar Halvorsen 50.2 28 February 1892 Hamar Alfred Næss 49.4 5 February 1893 Hamar Einar Halvorsen 48.0 26 February 1893 Hamar Alfred Næss 48.0 26 February 1893 Hamar Oskar Fredriksen 47.8 21 January 1894 Kristiania Einar Halvorsen 47.0 24 February 1894 Hamar European Championships Alfred Næss 47.0 24 February 1894 Hamar European Championships Wilhelm Mauseth 46.8 3 February 1895 Trondhjem Peder Østlund 46.6 7 February 1897 Trondhjem Peder Østlund 45.2 10 February 1900 Davos Rudolf Gundersen 44.8 27 January 1906 Davos European Championships Johan Vikander 44.4 9 February 1908 Davos Sigurd Mathisen 44.4 9 February 1908 Davos Oscar Mathisen 44.2 17 February 1912 Kristiania World Allround Championships Oscar Mathisen 44.0 16 March 1913 Hamar Oscar Mathisen 43.7 10 January 1914 Kristiania Oscar Mathisen 43.4 17 January 1914 Davos Roald Larsen 43.1 4 February 1928 Davos World Allround Championships Clas Thunberg 42.8 19 January 1929 Davos European Championships Clas Thunberg 42.6 13 January 1931 St. Moritz Hans Engnestangen 42.5 21 January 1933 Davos Allan Potts 42.4 18 January 1936 Oslo Hans Engnestangen 42.3 30 January 1937 Davos European Championships Hans Engnestangen 41.8 5 February 1938 Davos World Allround Championships Yuri Sergeev 41.7 6 January 1952 Medeo Yuri Sergeev 41.2 19 January 1952 Medeo Yuri Sergeev 40.9 25 January 1953 Medeo Yuri Sergeev 40.8 19 January 1955 Medeo Yevgeny Grishin 40.2 22 January 1956 Misurina Yevgeny Grishin 40.2 28 January 1956 Misurina Winter Olympics Yevgeny Grishin 40.2 24 February 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics Yevgeny Grishin 39.6 27 January 1963 Medeo Yevgeny Grishin 39.5 28 January 1963 Medeo Erhard Keller 39.2 28 January 1968 Inzell Keiichi Suzuki 39.2 1 March 1969 Inzell Valery Muratov 39.09 9 January 1970 Medeo Boris Gulyayev 39.03 13 January 1970 Medeo Hasse Börjes 38.9 18 January 1970 Davos Valery Muratov 38.99 24 January 1970 Medeo Hasse Börjes 38.87 25 January 1970 Medeo Valery Muratov 38.73 29 January 1970 Medeo Keiichi Suzuki 38.71 7 March 1970 Inzell Hasse Börjes 38.46 8 March 1970 Inzell Erhard Keller 38.42 14 March 1971 Inzell Erhard Keller 38.3 2 January 1972 Inzell Leo Linkovesi 38.0 8 January 1972 Davos Erhard Keller 38.0 4 March 1972 Inzell Hasse Börjes 38.0 4 March 1972 Inzell Lasse Efskind 38.0 13 January 1973 Davos Yevgeny Kulikov 37.99 15 March 1975 Medeo Yevgeny Kulikov 37.97 16 March 1975 Medeo Valery Muratov 37.85 18 March 1975 Medeo Yevgeny Kulikov 37.20 28 March 1975 Medeo Yevgeny Kulikov 37.00 29 March 1975 Medeo Yevgeny Kulikov 36.91 28 March 1981 Medeo Pavel Pegov 36.68 25 March 1983 Medeo Pavel Pegov 36.57 26 March 1983 Medeo Nick Thometz 36.55 19 March 1987 Heerenveen Uwe-Jens Mey 36.45 14 February 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics Uwe-Jens Mey 36.43 19 January 1992 Davos Dan Jansen 36.41 25 January 1992 Davos Dan Jansen 36.41 19 March 1993 Calgary Dan Jansen 36.02 20 March 1993 Calgary Dan Jansen 35.92 4 December 1993 Hamar Dan Jansen 35.76 30 January 1994 Calgary World Sprint Championships Hiroyasu Shimizu 35.39 2 March 1996 Calgary Hiroyasu Shimizu 35.36 28 March 1998 Calgary Hiroyasu Shimizu 34.82 28 March 1998 Calgary Jeremy Wotherspoon 34.76 20 February 1999 Calgary World Sprint Championships Jeremy Wotherspoon 34.63 29 January 2000 Calgary Hiroyasu Shimizu 34.32 10 March 2001 Salt Lake City World Single Distance Championships Joji Kato 34.30 19 November 2005 Salt Lake City Lee Kang-seok 34.25 9 March 2007 Salt Lake City World Single Distance Championships Jeremy Wotherspoon 34.03 9 November 2007 Salt Lake City Pavel Kulizhnikov 34.00 15 November 2015 Calgary World Cup Pavel Kulizhnikov 33.98 20 November 2015 Salt Lake City World Cup Pavel Kulizhnikov 33.61 9 March 2019 Salt Lake City World Cup Final
The world record of 38.9 seconds was set by Hasse Börjes on 18 January 1970 had been manually timed and thus with a precision of only one tenth of a second. In those days, it was not yet required that a performance be automatically timed (with a precision of one hundredth of a second) in order for it to be recognised as a world record. When Valery Muratov skated 38.99 six days later, it was automatically timed and since – when disregarding the hundredths of a second – the result was the same as the time set by Börjes, it was recognised as a world record. Muratov's world record stood for only one day, because Börjes skated 38.87 the following day. Muratov skated a new world record of 38.73 four days after that.
References Historical World Records. International Skating Union.