Olympic Skier's Penis Freezes During 50km Cross Country Event
Athletes had to battle through challenging conditions at the Zhangjiakou Olympic course, but one man finished the race with a bizarre injury
Of all the injuries an Olympic skier might incur, a frozen penis probably isn't the first ailment that comes to mind.
However, that is exactly what one Cross Country skier had to deal with after Saturday's 50km race in Beijing.
According to Finnish outlet IL, Remi Lindholm suffered a frozen penis, which left the athlete worried that he'll never be able to have kids.
Amid brutal conditions and strong winds, the course had already been shortened from 50km to 30km, although the Flying Finn was still left in "unbearable pain" following the event.
Lindholm, who finished in 28th, claimed: "You can probably guess what was on the ice when I got to the finish line."
It's not the first time he has suffered such an injury either, as he also left November's Ruka World Cup with parts of his anatomy frozen.
However, the 24-year-old admitted: "It was [worse this time]. Pretty unbearable pain."
He added that a heated bag helped alleviate the pain once the race was over, although he still harboured concerns over the health of his reproductive organs.
He wasn't the only competitor who was left frustrated by the event. The decision of the race organisers to shorten it to 30km due to the conditions angered Team GB skier Andrew Musgrave.
Before the race started, the 31-year-old tweeted: "They have just shortened the Olympic 50km because it's a bit cold and windy."
"I don't see that that will make it any warmer or less windy. What a f**king joke!"
After completing the shortened Zhangjiakou course, coming home in 12th place, Musgrave added that the conditions were deemed to be warm enough, and hence safe enough to complete a full race distance.
Bad weather was a feature of the 2022 Olympics, with temperatures at some events dropping as low as -20 degrees.
"If it's warm enough to race then I don't see why doing an hour and a quarter or 30km, compared to two hours in the 50km, makes it any better," he concluded.
"It's still the same temperature, it's still the same wind. I couldn't really do anything about that and just had to go out and make the best of it.
"I'm a little bit annoyed. 50km is meant to be the ultimate endurance race and I felt like it wasn't quite the same."
Featured Image Credit:Topics: olympics, Cross Country Skiing, Winter Olympics 2022, Alpine, beijing, Winter Olympics, Skiing
Tom Fenton