World record progression 500 m speed skating men

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