| | Event type

500 metres, Men

Date	23 February 1988
Status	Olympic (non-medal)
Location	Max Bell Arena, Calgary
Participants	32 from 10 countries

There were several favorites in this event, such as Peter van der Velde, who had become world champion just before the Games, and Tatsuyoshi Ishihara, who had won the 500 m at those Championships. Also highly rated was Italy’s Orazio Fagone, who had broken the world record in January’s European Championships. But of these three, only Ishihara made the final, where he was soundly beaten by Englishman Wilf O’Reilly, who also recorded the fastest time of the tournament. O’Reilly, who had a Jamaican father, was the first black Winter Olympic champion albeit in a demonstration sport.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	FP	SP	Best Time
1	Wilf O'Reilly	GBR	A	44.80	–
2	Mario Vincent	CAN	A	45.15	–
3	Tatsuyoshi Ishihara	JPN	A	45.37	–
4	Robert Dubreuil	CAN	A	45.38	–
5	Michel Daignault	CAN	B	45.10	–
6	Orazio Fagone	ITA	B	46.35	–
7	Kim Gi-Hun	KOR	B	48.82	–
8	Toshinobu Kawai	JPN	B	49.12	–
9	Louis Grenier	CAN	3	47	45.78
10	Charles Veldhoven	NED	3	47	45.81
11	Brian Arseneau	USA	3	34	45.76
12	Yuichi Akasaka	JPN	3	34	46.83
13	Jaco Mos	NED	4	42	45.42
14	Lee Jun-Ho	KOR	4	42	47.24
15	Tsutomu Kawasaki	JPN	4	29	46.86
16	Pat Moore	USA	4	29	49.20
17	Marc Bella	FRA	5	26	47.21
18	Didier Claeys	BEL	5	18	1:15.69
19	Thierry Fagot	FRA	3	13	46.01
20	Hugo Herrnhof	ITA	3	13	46.08
21	Richard Suyten	NED	3	13	47.81
22	Peter van der Velde	NED	3	13	49.61
23	Andy Gabel	USA	3	13	54.62
24	Johnny Kah	AUS	3	13	1:00.31
25	Ian Ellis	GBR	4	8	1:04.45
26	Dave Besteman	USA	4	8	47.37
27	Stuart Horsepool	GBR	4	8	48.43
28	Robert Blair	GBR	4	8	48.92
29	Bob Peretti	ITA	4	8	54.83
30	Enrico Peretti	ITA	4	8	1:08.04
AC	Mo Ji-Su	KOR	DQ	0	–
AC	Emmanuel Michon	FRA	DQ	0	–

Round One (23 February 1988 — 10:00)

Heat One

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Lee Jun-Ho	KOR	47.27	Q
2	Yuichi Akasaka	JPN	53.51	Q
3	Andy Gabel	USA	54.62
4	Bob Peretti	ITA	54.83

Heat Two

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Louis Grenier	CAN	45.78	Q
2	Toshinobu Kawai	JPN	45.83	Q
3	Thierry Fagot	FRA	46.01
4	Robert Blair	GBR	48.92

Heat Three

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Charles Veldhoven	NED	45.81	Q
2	Tsutomu Kawasaki	JPN	47.49	Q
3	Johnny Kah	AUS	1:00.31
4	Enrico Peretti	ITA	1:08.04

Heat Four

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Wilf O'Reilly	GBR	46.66	Q
2	Pat Moore	USA	49.20	Q
3	Robert Dubreuil	CAN	1:24.01	q
DQ	Mo Ji-Su	KOR	–

Heat Five

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Mario Vincent	CAN	47.13	Q
2	Brian Arseneau	USA	47.48	Q
3	Peter van der Velde	NED	49.61
4	Ian Ellis	GBR	1:04.45

Heat Six

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Michel Daignault	CAN	45.56	Q
2	Tatsuyoshi Ishihara	JPN	45.74	Q
3	Hugo Herrnhof	ITA	46.08
4	Dave Besteman	USA	47.37

Heat Seven

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Jaco Mos	NED	45.42	Q
2	Kim Gi-Hun	KOR	46.21	Q
3	Didier Claeys	BEL	1:21.93	q
DQ	Emmanuel Michon	FRA	–

Heat Eight

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Orazio Fagone	ITA	46.49	Q
2	Marc Bella	FRA	47.21	Q
3	Richard Suyten	NED	47.81
4	Stuart Horsepool	GBR	48.43

Quarter-Finals (23 February 1988)

Heat One

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Wilf O'Reilly	GBR	45.17	Q
2	Mario Vincent	CAN	45.29	Q
3	Brian Arseneau	USA	45.76
4	Tsutomu Kawasaki	JPN	46.86

Heat Two

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Orazio Fagone	ITA	46.29	Q
2	Robert Dubreuil	CAN	46.58	Q
3	Yuichi Akasaka	JPN	46.83
4	Lee Jun-Ho	KOR	47.24
5	Marc Bella	FRA	2:00.40

Heat Three

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Tatsuyoshi Ishihara	JPN	45.65	Q
2	Michel Daignault	CAN	45.89	Q
3	Charles Veldhoven	NED	45.99
4	Pat Moore	USA	1:00.65

Heat Four

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Kim Gi-Hun	KOR	45.92	Q
2	Toshinobu Kawai	JPN	45.94	Q
3	Louis Grenier	CAN	46.12
4	Jaco Mos	NED	1:08.93
5	Didier Claeys	BEL	1:15.69

Semi-Finals (23 February 1988)

Heat One

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Tatsuyoshi Ishihara	JPN	45.00	QA
2	Mario Vincent	CAN	45.06	QA
3	Kim Gi-Hun	KOR	45.15	QB
4	Orazio Fagone	ITA	1:08.80	QB

Heat Two

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Wilf O'Reilly	GBR	46.39	QA
2	Robert Dubreuil	CAN	47.06	QA
3	Toshinobu Kawai	JPN	53.14	QB
4	Michel Daignault	CAN	1:08.52	QB

Final Round (23 February 1988 — 13:00)

A Final

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Wilf O'Reilly	GBR	44.80
2	Mario Vincent	CAN	45.15
3	Tatsuyoshi Ishihara	JPN	45.37
4	Robert Dubreuil	CAN	45.38

B Final

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Time
1	Michel Daignault	CAN	45.10
2	Orazio Fagone	ITA	46.35
3	Kim Gi-Hun	KOR	48.82
4	Toshinobu Kawai	JPN	49.12