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 46.768 Q 2 Jong Ok-myong 46.835 Q 3 Yvonne Kunze 46.887 4 Erin Porter 64.113
Heat 2 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Chun Lee-kyung 48.024 Q 2 Erin Gleason 48.767 Q 3 Ellen Wiegers 56.250 4 Tania Vicent 70.212
Heat 3 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Wang Chunlu 45.655 Q 2 Annie Perreault 45.866 Q 3 Barbara Baldissera 46.113 – Han Ryon-hui DNF
Heat 4 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Ikue Teshigawara 47.354 Q 2 Kim Yun-mi 48.184 Q 3 Melanie de Lange 48.598 4 Susanne Busch 90.607
Heat 5 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Yang Yang (A) 46.815 Q 2 Yelena Tikhanina 46.980 Q 3 Hwang Ok-sil 46.987 4 Anke Jannie Landman 47.090
Heat 6 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Evgeniya Radanova 45.977 Q 2 Choi Min-kyung 46.126 Q 3 Nataliya Sverchikova 46.976 4 Marinella Canclini 74.224
Heat 7 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Yang Yang (S) 46.136 Q 2 Mara Urbani 46.287 Q 3 Amy Peterson 46.764 4 Janet Daly 49.158
Heat 8 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Isabelle Charest 46.085 Q 2 Marina Pylayeva 46.359 Q 3 Daniela Vlaeva 46.681 4 Ayako Tsubaki 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 46.033 Q 2 Isabelle Charest 46.194 Q 3 Yelena Tikhanina 46.206 – Yang Yang (A) DQ
Quarterfinal 2 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Annie Perreault 46.421 Q 2 Yang Yang (S) 46.578 Q 3 Chikage Tanaka 56.798 ADV – Jong Ok-myong DQ
Quarterfinal 3 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Mara Urbani 46.215 Q 2 Kim Yun-mi 46.640 Q 3 Ikue Teshigawara 52.693 ADV – Evgeniya Radanova DQ
Quarterfinal 4 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Wang Chunlu 46.091 Q 2 Chun Lee-kyung 46.163 Q 3 Marina Pylayeva 46.220 4 Erin Gleason 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 44.991 QA 2 Yang Yang (S) 45.101 QA 3 Choi Min-kyung 46.000 QB 4 Mara Urbani 46.473 QB 5 Chikage Tanaka 46.497
Semifinal 2 Rank Athlete Country Time Notes 1 Annie Perreault 45.612 QA 2 Wang Chunlu 45.655 QA 3 Ikue Teshigawara 45.736 QB 4 Chun Lee-kyung 46.168 QB 5 Kim Yun-mi 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 Notes Annie Perreault 46.568 Yang Yang (S) 46.627 – Isabelle Charest DQ – Wang Chunlu DNF
Final B Rank Athlete Country Time Notes Chun Lee-kyung 46.335 4 Choi Min-kyung 46.504 5 Mara Urbani 46.687 6 Ikue Teshigawara 46.889
References