Short track speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics – Women's 500 metres
The women's 500 metres in short track speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics took place on 24 February at the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre.
Results
Heats
The first round was held on 24 February. There were eight heats, with the top two finishers moving on to the quarterfinals.;Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wang Xiulan | 47.32 | Q | |
| 2 | Nathalie Lambert | 47.38 | Q | |
| 3 | Evgeniya Radanova | 50.67 |
;Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Cathy Turner | 46.22 | Q | |
| 2 | Won Hye-kyung | 48.08 | Q | |
| 3 | Anke Jannie Landman | 48.36 | ||
| 4 | Bea Pintens | 49.59 |
;Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sylvie Daigle | 46.98 | Q | |
| 2 | Chun Lee-kyung | 47.14 | Q | |
| 3 | Yelena Tikhonova | 47.79 | ||
| 4 | Debbie Palmer | 47.93 |
;Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Isabelle Charest | 46.92 | Q | |
| 2 | Sandrine Daudet | 49.06 | Q | |
| 3 | Barbara Baldissera | 79.96 | ||
| – | Sofie Pintens | DQ |
;Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ayako Tsubaki | 48.49 | Q | |
| 2 | Karen Gardiner-Kah | 48.56 | Q | |
| 3 | Viktoriya Troitskaya-Taranina | 48.59 | ||
| 4 | Valérie Barizza | 50.30 |
;Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Marinella Canclini | 47.19 | Q | |
| 2 | Kim So-hee | 47.77 | Q | |
| 3 | Yelena Sinitsina | 50.36 |
;Heat 7
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Yang Yang | 47.23 | Q | |
| 2 | Marina Pylayeva | 47.47 | Q | |
| 3 | Katia Mosconi | 47.90 | ||
| 4 | Penèlope di Lella | 48.44 |
;Heat 8
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Amy Peterson | 47.02 | Q | |
| 2 | Zhang Yanmei | 47.35 | Q | |
| 3 | Laure Drouet | 50.47 | ||
| 4 | Cindy Meyer | 77.18 |
Quarterfinals
The top two finishers in each of the four quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals.;Quarterfinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Isabelle Charest | 47.25 | Q | |
| 2 | Yang Yang | 47.25 | Q | |
| 3 | Karen Gardiner-Kah | 47.90 | ||
| 4 | Chun Lee-kyung | 69.56 |
;Quarterfinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Amy Peterson | 46.59 | Q | |
| 2 | Zhang Yanmei | 46.64 | Q | |
| 3 | Sandrine Daudet | 47.97 | ||
| 4 | Marinella Canclini | 88.77 |
;Quarterfinal 3
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Kim So-hee | 46.97 | Q | |
| 2 | Cathy Turner | 47.24 | Q | |
| 3 | Ayako Tsubaki | 47.51 | ||
| 4 | Nathalie Lambert | 65.45 |
;Quarterfinal 4
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wang Xiulan | 48.40 | Q | |
| 2 | Won Hye-kyung | 48.87 | Q | |
| 3 | Sylvie Daigle | 55.59 | ||
| – | Marina Pylayeva | DQ |
Semifinals
The top two finishers in each of the two semifinals qualified for the A final, while the third and fourth place skaters advanced to the B Final.;Semifinal 1
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Zhang Yanmei | 46.01 | QA | |
| 2 | Amy Peterson | 46.28 | QA | |
| 3 | Kim So-hee | 46.36 | QB | |
| – | Yang Yang | DQ |
;Semifinal 2
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Cathy Turner | 47.54 | QA | |
| 2 | Won Hye-kyung | 47.63 | QA | |
| 3 | Wang Xiulan | 48.00 | QB | |
| – | Isabelle Charest | DQ |
Finals
The four qualifying skaters competed in Final A, while four others raced for 5th place in Final B.;Final A
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| Cathy Turner | 45.98 | |||
| Zhang Yanmei | 46.44 | |||
| Amy Peterson | 46.76 | |||
| 4 | Won Hye-kyung | 47.60 |
;Final B
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Time | Notes |
| 5 | Kim So-hee | 49.01 | ||
| 6 | Wang Xiulan | 49.03 |