Speed skating at the 1952 Winter Olympics – Men's 500 metres

Men's 500 metres speed skating at the VI Olympic Winter Games
Pictogram for speed skating
Venue	Bislett Stadium
Date	16 February 1952
Competitors	49 from 14 nations
Winning time	43.2
Medalists
Ken Henry  United States Don McDermott  United States Gordon Audley  Canada Arne Johansen  Norway

The 500 metres speed skating event was part of the speed skating at the 1952 Winter Olympics programme. The competition was held on Saturday, 16 February 1952, at 3 p.m. Forty-one speed skaters from 14 nations competed.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Ken Henry  United States	Don McDermott  United States	Gordon Audley  Canada Arne Johansen  Norway

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1952 Winter Olympics.

World record	41.2(*)	Yuri Sergeev	Medeo (URS)	19 January 1952
Olympic record	43.1	Finn Helgesen	St. Moritz (SUI)	31 January 1948

(*) The record was set in a high altitude venue (more than 1000 metres above sea level) and on naturally frozen ice.

Results

The current world record holder Yuri Sergeev did not compete as the Soviet Union did not participate in the Oslo Games, sending observers instead to prepare for the 1956 Winter Olympics.

Place	Speed skater	Time
1	Ken Henry (USA)	43.2
2	Don McDermott (USA)	43.9
3	Gordon Audley (CAN)	44.0
	Arne Johansen (NOR)	44.0
5	Finn Helgesen (NOR)	44.0
6	Hroar Elvenes (NOR)	44.1
	Kiyotaka Takabayashi (JPN)	44.1
8	Gerard Maarse (NED)	44.2
	Toivo Salonen (FIN)	44.2
10	Sigmund Søfteland (NOR)	44.3
11	Johnny Werket (USA)	44.5
12	Masanori Aoki (JPN)	44.8
	Mats Bolmstedt (SWE)	44.8
	Frank Stack (CAN)	44.8
15	Robert Fitzgerald (USA)	44.9
	Sukenobu Kudo (JPN)	44.9
	Craig MacKay (CAN)	44.9
18	Tsuneo Sato (JPN)	45.2
19	Cockie van der Elst (NED)	45.3
	Wim van der Voort (NED)	45.3
21	Norman Holwell (GBR)	45.4
	Kalevi Laitinen (FIN)	45.4
23	Gunnar Ström (SWE)	45.6
24	Kauko Salomaa (FIN)	45.7
25	Stig Lindberg (SWE)	45.9
	Franz Offenberger (AUT)	45.9
	Enrico Musolino (ITA)	45.9
28	Ferenc Lőrincz (HUN)	46.1
29	Colin Hickey (AUS)	46.2
30	Ralf Olin (CAN)	46.5
31	Bengt Malmsten (SWE)	46.6
32	József Merényi (HUN)	46.7
33	Theo Meding (GER)	46.8
34	Bill Jones (GBR)	46.9
35	Robert Laboubée (BEL)	47.2
36	Konrad Pecher (AUT)	47.3
37	Arthur Mannsbarth (AUT)	47.6
38	Guido Citterio (ITA)	48.2
39	Jean Massez (BEL)	49.2
—	Jan Charisius (NED)	DNF
	Lassi Parkkinen (FIN)	DNF

Finn Helgesen did not receive a bronze medal because he was paired up with Arne Johansen and finished behind his opponent.

Jan Charisius and Lassi Parkkinen gave up after a fall.

External links

• Official Olympic Report
• "Results of the 1952 Olympic Games 500 meters Men". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 27 August 2012.