The Dutch skater triumphed in the 5,000m on the opening day of competition, which is doubling as a Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic test event.

Skating in the penultimate pairing in the 10,000m, Kramer achieved a time of 12min 38.89sec to move to the top of the standings.

His compatriot Jorrit Bergsma went closest to the time in the final pairing of the day, but he would have to settle for second by ending in 12:43.95.

Germany’s Patrick Beckert, who skated against Kramer, claimed the bronze medal by clocking 12:52.76.

Olympic champion Martina Sáblíková topped the standings in the women’s 5,000m by finishing in 6:52.38.

Germany’s Claudia Pechstein and Ivanie Blondin of Canada came closest to dethroning the Czech star, but they would end with silver and bronze medals respectively.

Pechstein finished in a time of 6:53.93, while Blondin clocked 6:57.14.

The home fans were left disappointed in the women's 1,000m competition as Sang Hwa Lee, South Korea's two-time Olympic champion in the 500m, was forced to withdraw from the event.

In her absence, the United States’ Heather Bergsma stormed to victory by achieving a time of 1:13.94.

Japan’s Nao Kodaira finished as the silver medallist after finishing 0.49 seconds off the pace.

The podium was completed by Jorien Ter Mors in a time of 1:14.66, edging in front of her Dutch team-mate Marrit Leenstra.

There would be gold for The Netherlands in the men’s event, with Kjeld Nuis topping the podium after finishing in a time of 1:08.26.

He was followed by Canada’s Vincent De Haitre and fellow Dutchman Kai Verbij, as the pair were 0.28 and 0.52 seconds off the pace.

The Championships will conclude tomorrow with the 1,500m and mass start events for both men and women.