The 500 metres speed skating

Speed skating

Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...

event was part of the speed skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics

Speed skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics

-Medal summary:-Participating nations:Twelve speed skaters competed in all four events.A total of 68 speed skaters from 15 nations competed at the St. Moritz Games:-Medal table:-References:*...

 programme. The competition was held on Saturday, January 31, 1948.

Forty-two speed skaters from 15 nations competed.

Medalists

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1948 Winter Olympics.

World Record	41.8(*)	Hans Engnestangen Hans Engnestangen Hans Engnestangen was a Norwegian speed skater and world champion. He held the world records on both the 500 and 1500 meter distance for more than ten years....	Davos Davos Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...  (SUI Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... )	February 5, 1938
Olympic Record	43.4	Clas Thunberg Clas Thunberg Arnold Clas Robert Thunberg was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold medals – three at the inaugural Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924 and two at the 1928 Winter Olympics held in St. Moritz...	St. Moritz St. Moritz St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...  (SUI Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... )	February 13, 1928
	43.4	Bernt Evensen Bernt Evensen Bernt Sverre Evensen was a Norwegian speed skater and racing cyclist.At the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Bernt Evensen became the first Norwegian skater to win an Olympic gold medal by winning gold on the 500 m Bernt Sverre Evensen (8 April 1905 in Kristiania (Oslo) – 24 August 1979)...	St. Moritz St. Moritz St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...  (SUI Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... )	February 13, 1928
	43.4(**)	Jack Shea Jack Shea John Amos Shea , better known as Jack Shea or The Chief, was an American double-Gold medalist in speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics. He was the first American to win two Gold medals at one Winter Olympics edition, and was the patriarch of the first family with three generations of Winter...	Lake Placid Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....  (USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... )	February 4, 1932
	43.4	Ivar Ballangrud Ivar Ballangrud Ivar Ballangrud was a Norwegian speed skater, a four-time Olympic champion in Speed Skating. As the only triple gold medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics, Ballangrud was the most successful athlete there.-Biography:Ivar Ballangrud was one of the best speed skaters in the world for a period of 15...	Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...  (GER Nazi Germany Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by... )	February 11, 1936

(*) The record was set in a high altitude venue (more than 1000 metres above sea level) and on naturally frozen ice.

(**) This time was set in packstyle format, having all competitors skate at the same time.

Five speed skaters were faster than the standing Olympic record. Finn Helgesen

Finn Helgesen

Finn Helgesen was a speed skater from Norway. He was born in Drammen, Buskerud.At the Norwegian Championships, Helgesen won the 500 m in 1947 and 1949. He became Olympic Champion on the 500 m at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St...

set a time of 43.1 seconds.

Results

Place	Athlete	Time
1		43.1
2		43.2
		43.2
		43.2
5		43.3
6		43.6
		43.6
		43.6
		43.6
10		43.7
11		44.0
		44.0
13		44.7
14		44.8
		44.8
16		45.2
17		45.3
		45.3
19		45.5
20		45.6
21		45.7
		45.7
23		45.9
		45.9
25		46.0
26		46.1
27		46.2
28		46.3
29		46.4
		46.4
		46.4
32		46.5
		46.5
34		46.8
35		46.9
36		47.2
37		47.4
		47.4
39		47.8
40		48.3
41		48.7
–		DNF