Alfred Næss in 1954

The world record progression 500 m speed skating men as recognised by the International Skating Union:

Name	Result	Date	Venue	Meeting
Oscar Grundén	50.8	28 February 1891	Stockholm
Einar Halvorsen	50.2	28 February 1892	Hamar
Alfred Næss	49.4	5 February 1893	Hamar
Einar Halvorsen	48.0	26 February 1893	Hamar
Alfred Næss	48.0	26 February 1893	Hamar
Oskar Fredriksen	47.8	21 January 1894	Kristiania
Einar Halvorsen	47.0	24 February 1894	Hamar	European Championships
Alfred Næss	47.0	24 February 1894	Hamar	European Championships
Wilhelm Mauseth	46.8	3 February 1895	Trondhjem
Peder Østlund	46.6	7 February 1897	Trondhjem
Peder Østlund	45.2	10 February 1900	Davos
Rudolf Gundersen	44.8	27 January 1906	Davos	European Championships
Johan Vikander	44.4	9 February 1908	Davos
Sigurd Mathisen	44.4	9 February 1908	Davos
Oscar Mathisen	44.2	17 February 1912	Kristiania	World Allround Championships
Oscar Mathisen	44.0	16 March 1913	Hamar
Oscar Mathisen	43.7	10 January 1914	Kristiania
Oscar Mathisen	43.4	17 January 1914	Davos
Roald Larsen	43.1	4 February 1928	Davos	World Allround Championships
Clas Thunberg	42.8	19 January 1929	Davos	European Championships
Clas Thunberg	42.6	13 January 1931	St. Moritz
Hans Engnestangen	42.5	21 January 1933	Davos
Allan Potts	42.4	18 January 1936	Oslo
Hans Engnestangen	42.3	30 January 1937	Davos	European Championships
Hans Engnestangen	41.8	5 February 1938	Davos	World Allround Championships
Yuri Sergeev	41.7	6 January 1952	Medeo
Yuri Sergeev	41.2	19 January 1952	Medeo
Yuri Sergeev	40.9	25 January 1953	Medeo
Yuri Sergeev	40.8	19 January 1955	Medeo
Yevgeny Grishin	40.2	22 January 1956	Misurina
Yevgeny Grishin	40.2	28 January 1956	Misurina	Winter Olympics
Yevgeny Grishin	40.2	24 February 1960	Squaw Valley	Winter Olympics
Yevgeny Grishin	39.6	27 January 1963	Medeo
Yevgeny Grishin	39.5	28 January 1963	Medeo
Erhard Keller	39.2	28 January 1968	Inzell
Keiichi Suzuki	39.2	1 March 1969	Inzell
Valery Muratov	39.09	9 January 1970	Medeo
Boris Gulyaev	39.03	13 January 1970	Medeo
Hasse Börjes	38.9	18 January 1970	Davos
Valery Muratov	38.99	24 January 1970	Medeo
Hasse Börjes	38.87	25 January 1970	Medeo
Valery Muratov	38.73	29 January 1970	Medeo
Keiichi Suzuki	38.71	7 March 1970	Inzell
Hasse Börjes	38.46	8 March 1970	Inzell
Erhard Keller	38.42	14 March 1971	Inzell
Erhard Keller	38.3	2 January 1972	Inzell
Leo Linkovesi	38.0	8 January 1972	Davos
Erhard Keller	38.0	4 March 1972	Inzell
Hasse Börjes	38.0	4 March 1972	Inzell
Lasse Efskind	38.0	13 January 1973	Davos
Yevgeny Kulikov	37.99	15 March 1975	Medeo
Yevgeny Kulikov	37.97	16 March 1975	Medeo
Valery Muratov	37.85	18 March 1975	Medeo
Yevgeny Kulikov	37.20	28 March 1975	Medeo
Yevgeny Kulikov	37.00	29 March 1975	Medeo
Yevgeny Kulikov	36.91	28 March 1981	Medeo
Pavel Pegov	36.68	25 March 1983	Medeo
Pavel Pegov	36.57	26 March 1983	Medeo
Nick Thometz	36.55	19 March 1987	Heerenveen
Uwe-Jens Mey	36.45	14 February 1988	Calgary	Winter Olympics
Uwe-Jens Mey	36.43	19 January 1992	Davos
Dan Jansen	36.41	25 January 1992	Davos
Dan Jansen	36.41	19 March 1993	Calgary
Dan Jansen	36.02	20 March 1993	Calgary
Dan Jansen	35.92	4 December 1993	Hamar
Dan Jansen	35.76	30 January 1994	Calgary	World Sprint Championships
Hiroyasu Shimizu	35.39	2 March 1996	Calgary
Hiroyasu Shimizu	35.36	28 March 1998	Calgary
Hiroyasu Shimizu	34.82	28 March 1998	Calgary
Jeremy Wotherspoon	34.76	20 February 1999	Calgary	World Sprint Championships
Jeremy Wotherspoon	34.63	29 January 2000	Calgary
Hiroyasu Shimizu	34.32	10 March 2001	Salt Lake City	World Single Distance Championships
Joji Kato	34.30	19 November 2005	Salt Lake City
Lee Kang-seok	34.25	9 March 2007	Salt Lake City	World Single Distance Championships
Jeremy Wotherspoon	34.03	9 November 2007	Salt Lake City
Pavel Kulizhnikov	34.00	15 November 2015	Calgary	World Cup
Pavel Kulizhnikov	33.98	20 November 2015	Salt Lake City	World Cup
Pavel Kulizhnikov	33.61	9 March 2019	Salt Lake City	World Cup Final

The world record of 38.9 seconds was set by Hasse Börjes on 18 January 1970 had been manually timed and thus with a precision of only one tenth of a second. In those days, it was not yet required that a performance be automatically timed (with a precision of one hundredth of a second) in order for it to be recognised as a world record. When Valery Muratov skated 38.99 six days later, it was automatically timed and since – when disregarding the hundredths of a second – the result was the same as the time set by Börjes, it was recognised as a world record. Muratov's world record stood for only one day, because Börjes skated 38.87 the following day. Muratov skated a new world record of 38.73 four days after that.

References

• Historical World Records. International Skating Union.
• "Evolution of the world record 500 meters Men". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 29 August 2012.