Crowned in the 5000m in 2010, 2014 and 2018, silver medalist in 2006 for his first participation in the Olympics, Kramer this time failed very far from the podium, more than seven seconds from 3rd place.
The title went to the Swede Nils van der Poel who beat the Dutchman Patrick Roest, 2nd (6:09.31), and the Norwegian Hallgeir Engebraaten (6:09.88) with a time of 6 min 08 sec 84/100th.
Van der Poel, 25, finished 14th in the 5000m at the 2018 Olympics four years ago and is aiming for the 5000/10,000m double this time.
The joy of Swedish skater Nils van der Poel, Olympic champion in the 5000m, on February 6, 2022 at the Beijing Games Sebastien Bozon AFP
Kramer, 35, had difficulty getting his ticket to Beijing.
Operated on his back in May and short of competition, he finished at the end of December in 3rd place in the Dutch Olympic selections, missing one of the two automatic tickets for the Olympic Games-2022.
But he was finally retained by his federation for Beijing where he will also line up in the mass-start on February 13 and in the team pursuit on February 19.
Kramer is considered the best speed skater in history with his nine Olympic medals, including four gold, and his nine crowns of all around world champion.
© 2022 AFP