An Olympic skier says his penis froze during a cross-country ski race and 'the pain was unbearable'

• An Olympic skier says his penis froze during a cross-country ski race at the Beijing Olympics.
• Remi Lindholm of Finland said he experienced "unbearable pain" from frostbite.

Olympic skier Remi Lindholm of Finland says he got frostbite on his penis during the 50 km cross country ski race at the Beijing Winter Games on Saturday, according to CNN.

The 24-year-old athlete competed in the event for an hour and 16 minutes but had to leave with a heat pack on his pelvic area.

"You can guess which body part was a little bit frozen when I finished … it was one of the worst competitions I've been in. It was just about battling through," Lindholm said during the post-race media session, via CNN. "When the body parts started to warm up after the finish, the pain was unbearable."

Lindholm's frostbite injury caused the event's organizers to change the event's schedule and course. The race was delayed by an hour and shortened by 40% from 50 km to just 30 km.

Lindholm got penile frostbite at a race last year

Lindholm's "unbearable" injury wasn't the first time he's had to deal with frostbitten genitals. He experienced the same injury during another cross-country skiing race in Ruka, Finland, in 2021, according to CNN.

Frostbite occurs when skin and tissues under the skin freeze from exposure to cold temperatures. The freezing causes blood vessels to contract, which reduces blood and oxygen flow to the affected area and throughout the body.

Symptoms of frostbite include numbness, swelling, tenderness, and pale skin.

Frostbite should be treated right away, or it may lead to permanent nerve damage, Mark Conroy, MD, an emergency medicine physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, previously told Insider.