The Olympic champion finished first in the men's 5,000 metres, with a time of 6:07.49, and 10th in the 500m with 36.20, to take the lead at the Olympic Oval in the Canadian city.

"I would have liked to skate faster today, but the conditions are not as good as I had hoped," Kramer said.

"The ice is a bit soft, which is a disadvantage in the long distances.

"But this ranking is very good for me at the moment."

He will, however, have to fight off the challenge presented by Russia's Denis Yuskov, who sits in second place overall and needs to make up just 0.17 seconds on Kramer in tomorrow's 1,500m to take the lead after he finished third in the 5,000m and second in the 500m.

Third overall for the men is Norwegian Sverre Lunde Pedersen, who finished second in the 5,000m and fourth in the 500m.

Home athlete Denny Morrison is in fourth place overall after claiming victory in the 500m with a time of 34.98.

Heather Richardson leads the women's overall standings after the two races on the first day in Canada ©Getty Images


Heather Richardson of the United States lead the women's field overall after the two races on the first day.

She came first in the 500m with a time of 37.11 and ninth in the 3,000m with 4:05.00 to top the standings ahead of Czech Olympic champion Martina Sáblíková and Dutch Olympic champion Ireen Wüst in second and third place overall.

"Today was pretty good," Richardson said.

"I didn't know what to expect in the 3,000m and I just wanted to go for a pretty flat race.

"I still need to get a little time on the other girls.

"I never raced a 5k before [tomorrow's 5,000m race], so I'm just going to have fun.

"Sáblíková is very good at what she does and so is Wüst.

"It's going to be hard.

"12.5 laps might be pushing it a little bit."

Sáblíková has her 3,000m winning time of 3:55.10 to thank for her position, after placing 10th in the 500m.

Wüst, meanwhile, came second to Richardson in the 3,000m with a time of 4:00.34 and clocked 38.73 to finish third in the 500m after first placed Richardson and second place home athlete Kali Christ.

The action continues tomorrow with the women's 1,500m and 5,000m races and the men's 1,500m and 10,000m.

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