Short track speed skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Women's 500 metres
# Short track speed skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Women's 500 metres

The Women’s 500 metres in short track speed skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics took place from 10 to 13 February 2018 at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, South Korea.

## Summary

The defending champion from 2014, Li Jianrou, had retired, but the 2014 silver medalist Arianna Fontana competed and eventually won the event. Elise Christie and Choi Min-jeong, who set two Olympic records each in heats and quarterfinals, were considered heavy favorites. They both qualified to the final, but Christie crashed out and finished fourth, and Choi was disqualified for interference after initially finishing second. Fontana became the Olympic champion, with Yara van Kerkhof, who was advanced to the final, winning the silver, and Kim Boutin bronze. Fontana's gold medal was the first gold medal in women's short track speed skating won by a European athlete since 1988 (when Monique Velzeboer and the Italian relay team took gold).

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

| World record | Elise Christie (GBR) | 42.335 | Salt Lake City, United States | 13 November 2016 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Olympic record | Wang Meng (CHN) | 42.985 | Vancouver, Canada | 17 February 2010 |

Three Olympic records were set during the competition.

| Date | Round | Athlete | Country | Time | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 10 February | Heat 8 | Choi Min-jeong | South Korea | 42.870 | OR |
| 13 February | Quarterfinal 2 | Elise Christie | Great Britain | 42.703 | OR |
| 13 February | Semifinal 1 | Choi Min-jeong | South Korea | 42.422 | OR |

## Results

### Heats

    Q – qualified for Quarterfinals
    PEN – penalty

| Rank | Heat | Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Kim Boutin | Canada | 43.634 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Natalia Maliszewska | Poland | 43.725 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Lana Gehring | United States | 43.825 | |
| 4 | 1 | Lucia Peretti | Italy | 43.994 | |
| 1 | 2 | Arianna Fontana | Italy | 43.214 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Andrea Keszler | Hungary | 43.274 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Kathryn Thomson | Great Britain | 1:08.896 | |
| 4 | 2 | Suzanne Schulting | Netherlands | DNF | |
| 1 | 3 | Sofia Prosvirnova | Olympic Athletes from Russia | 43.376 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Yara van Kerkhof | Netherlands | 43.430 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Bianca Walter | Germany | 43.541 | |
| 4 | 3 | Sumire Kikuchi | Japan | 44.838 | |
| 1 | 4 | Elise Christie | Great Britain | 42.872 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Qu Chunyu | China | 42.971 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Shim Suk-hee | South Korea | 43.048 | |
| 4 | 4 | Veronique Pierron | France | 43.148 | |
| 1 | 5 | Fan Kexin | China | 43.350 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Maame Biney | United States | 43.665 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Kim A-lang | South Korea | 43.724 | |
| 4 | 5 | Anastassiya Krestova | Kazakhstan | 43.821 | |
| 1 | 6 | Martina Valcepina | Italy | 43.698 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Han Yutong | China | 43.719 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Tifany Huot-Marchand | France | 44.659 | |
| | 6 | Jamie Macdonald | Canada | | PEN |
| 1 | 7 | Marianne St-Gelais | Canada | 43.437 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Anna Seidel | Germany | 43.742 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Lara van Ruijven | Netherlands | 43.771 | |
| 4 | 7 | Magdalena Warakomska | Poland | 44.311 | |
| 1 | 8 | Choi Min-jeong | South Korea | 42.870 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 8 | Petra Jászapáti | Hungary | 55.670 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | Emina Malagich | Olympic Athletes from Russia | 56.830 | |
| | 8 | Charlotte Gilmartin | Great Britain | | PEN |

### Quarterfinals

    Q – qualified for Semifinals
    PEN – penalty

| Rank | Heat | Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Arianna Fontana | Italy | 43.128 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Yara van Kerkhof | Netherlands | 43.197 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Natalia Maliszewska | Poland | 43.384 | |
| | 1 | Marianne St-Gelais | Canada | | PEN |
| 1 | 2 | Elise Christie | Great Britain | 42.703 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 2 | Kim Boutin | Canada | 42.789 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Andrea Keszler | Hungary | 43.053 | |
| 4 | 2 | Anna Seidel | Germany | 44.325 | |
| 1 | 3 | Sofia Prosvirnova | Olympic Athletes from Russia | 43.466 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Fan Kexin | China | 43.485 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Han Yutong | China | 43.627 | |
| 4 | 3 | Maame Biney | United States | 44.772 | |
| 1 | 4 | Qu Chunyu | China | 42.954 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Choi Min-jeong | South Korea | 42.996 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Martina Valcepina | Italy | 43.023 | |
| 4 | 4 | Petra Jászapáti | Hungary | 43.043 | |

### Semifinals

    QA – qualified for Final A
    QB – qualified for Final B
    ADV – advanced
    PEN – penalty

| Rank | Semifinal | Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Choi Min-jeong | South Korea | 42.422 | QA, OR |
| 2 | 1 | Arianna Fontana | Italy | 42.635 | QA |
| 3 | 1 | Sofia Prosvirnova | Olympic Athletes from Russia | 43.219 | QB |
| | 1 | Fan Kexin | China | | PEN |
| 1 | 2 | Yara van Kerkhof | Netherlands | 43.182 | QA |
| 2 | 2 | Elise Christie | Great Britain | 43.184 | QA |
| 3 | 2 | Kim Boutin | Canada | 43.234 | ADV |
| | 2 | Qu Chunyu | China | | PEN |

### Final

Final B was scratched as Sofia Prosvirnova (5th place overall) was the only athlete who qualified for it.

| Rank | Name | Country | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Arianna Fontana | Italy | 42.569 | |
| | Yara van Kerkhof | Netherlands | 43.256 | |
| | Kim Boutin | Canada | 43.881 | |
| 4 | Elise Christie | Great Britain | 1:23.063 | |
| 6 | Choi Min-jeong | South Korea | | PEN |
