Kramer not to skate 1,500m in Sochi
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E-mail Xinhua, February 12, 2014
Newly crowned 5,000m champion Sven Kramer chose not to compete in the 1,500m in order to focus on his specialist event, the Dutch team confirmed on Wednesday.
Kramer announced his decision on twitter: "A very tough decision, but I have decided not to skate the 1500m race. This to stay focused on my 10,000m and the team pursuit event." The Dutch team press attache John van Vliet confirmed the news.
Kramer, 27, made a successful defense of the 5,000 meters title in Olympic record time to clinch the 100th gold medal in men's speed skating at the Adler Arena on Saturday. He became only the second male skater to win the 5000m event at successive Olympic Winter Games, after Tomas Gustafson of Sweden in 1984 and 1988.
In Vancouver's 10,000m final, Kramer was disqualified for a lane change mistake and South Korean Lee Seung Hoon ended up as the surpise winner. Lee finished runner up to Kramer in the 5,000m in Vancouver four years ago but only got a 12th finish on Saturday.
Kramer's teammate Jan Blokhuijsen will take his place in the event.
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