Apolo Anton Ohno easily advances

Apolo Anton Ohno placed first in his preliminary heat for the men's 500 meters, qualifying him for the quarterfinals on Friday. Ohno's time of 41.665 seconds was neither the fastest nor the slowest but more than enough for him to advance.

Of the three Americans in the event, Ohno and Simon Cho qualified, while Jordan Malone did not.

The quarters begin at 9 p.m. Friday night with Cho set to skate in the first heat against, among others, Canada's Charles Hamelin, who posted the second-fastest time in qualifying. Ohno, in the second heat, had the fastest preliminary heat time of any of his competitors in the quarterfinals.