1,000 metres, Men

Although 1992 winner Kim Gi-Hun had lost the World Record he skated in the Albertville final, he was favoured to retain the title, with his compatriots Lee and Chae present as “back-up”. The South Koreans were expected to be challenged by the Canadians, notably World Champion Marc Gagnon.

Kim indeed reached the final, together with his younger team mate Chae. Gagnon crashed out in the semi-finals, European Champion Nicky Gooch (Britain) taking advantage. Canada was still represented in the final, by Derrick Campbell, who led a large part of the race. With three laps left, Gooch made his move and overtook the Canadian on the inside. But there was no room, and the two touched, leaving Campbell in the sideboards. This left room for Kim to make his move, and he easily defended his title, finishing ahead of Gooch and Chae. But the judges ruled that Gooch had obstructed Campbell, and he was disqualified, so that Chae moved up to the silver medal. The bronze medal was though to go to Campbell, who had gotten up and finished the race, until it was found that he had finished one lap too early, and was classified as a non-finisher. This left the bronze for the surprised winner of the B-final, Marc Gagnon.