500 metres, Men

There were many potentials winners for this event. Mirko Vuillerminin of Italy had broken the World Record in the heats of the 1993 World Championships, but the 500 m at that competition was won by Sylvain Gagnon of Canada. But Gagnon had not qualified for Lillehammer, although his brother, World Champion Marc Gagnon, had. The Koreans also entered a strong team, with two-time Olympic Champion Kim Gi-Hun, fellow medallist Lee Jun-Ho, and the 19-year-old Chae Ji-Hun.

Vuillermin’s tactic of sprinting away at the start to see how far he could get paid off, reaching the final comfortably. There he was joined by Chae and Nicky Gooch, who had both been in the 1000 m final days earlier, and Gagnon, who had medalled in that event without skating the final. Again, Vuillermin took off like lightning, leaving the others chasing. But Chae, bronze medallist at the 1993 World Championships, caught on in the last lap, and pipped the Italian at the finish line, while European champion Gooch beat World Champion Gagnon for the bronze.