World and Olympic speed skating champion Sven Kramer is out of this winter’s competition with an injury to his right leg.

The news means Kramer cannot defend his world and European allround titles, which he has won four times straight.
‘This is terrible, especially for Sven,’ his manager Ron Mulder told the Telegraaf. ‘He had gone to South Africa hoping to recover but it got worse instead. The pain increased…. and we decided to bring him back to the Netherlands.’
Kramer had already missed the beginning of this season because he felt he needed more rest.