500 m, men

What to remember

In 1970 the speed skating 500 m world record read 38.9 s, hand-timed to the tenth. On March 9, 2019, Pavel Kulizhnikov covered it in 33.61 s in Salt Lake City at the World Cup Final, an average of 53.56 km/h.

The Russian skater, born in Vorkuta, had already moved the bar in 2015 by becoming the first to go under 34 seconds, with 33.98 s. That year he won the 500 m at the World Single Distances Championships and the World Sprint Championships, the youngest winner since Eric Heiden of the United States.

His range goes beyond the 500 m. In 2016 he won both the 500 m and the 1000 m at the World Single Distances Championships, a first for a man, and in 2020 he became the first skater under 1:06 in the 1000 m. The Salt Lake City time was ratified by the International Skating Union.