Heats

The first round was held on 22 February. There were seven heats of three or four skaters each, with the top two finishers and the two fastest third-place skaters moving on to the quarterfinals.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.960	Q
2		42.960	Q
3		43.572

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.480	Q
2		42.511	Q
3		43.183
4		45.173

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.883	Q
2		43.006	Q
3		43.583
4		45.173

Heat 4

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.607	Q
2		42.779	Q
3		42.849	q
4		DQ

Heat 5

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.914	Q
2		42.929	Q
3		44.077
4		1:13.722

Heat 6

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.676	Q
2		42.703	Q
3		42.819	q
4		42.980

Heat 7

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.836	Q
2		43.120	Q
3		43.212
4		43.486

Quarterfinals

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

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.213	Q
2		42.471	Q
3		42.515
4		42.605

Quarterfinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		43.105	Q
2		43.701	Q
3		1:01.289
4		1:22.896

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.267	Q
2		42.424	Q
3		42.773
4		DQ

Quarterfinal 4

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.020	Q
2		42.110	Q
3		42.979
4		DQ

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. In the first semifinal, China's Li Jiajun

Li JiaJun

Li Jiajun is a Chinese short track speed skater who has won 5 Olympic medals - two silver and three bronze. He has been a two-time Overall World Champion for 1999 and 2001....

 impeded Britain's Jon Eley

Jon Eley

Jon Eley is a British short track speed skater who competed at both the 2006 Winter Olympics and the 2010 Winter Olympics. Eley finished fifth in the 500 meters in Torino, and was a member of the British team that finished sixth in the 5000 meter relay in Vancouver.- References :...

, resulting in Li's disqualification, while Eley, who finished third in the race, was advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.261	QA
2		42.400	QA
3		42.650	ADV
4		DQ

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		41.826	QA
2		41.950	QA
3		42.120	QB
4		42.131	QB

Finals

The five qualifying skaters competed in Final A, while two other raced for 6th place in Final B.

Final A

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
		41.935
		42.002
		42.089
4		42.093
5		42.497

Final B

Rank	Athlete	Result	Notes
1		42.377
2		42.398