The bitter cold conditions in Zhangjiakou on Sunday — with a wind chill factor that made the -17 degrees Celsius temperature feel much colder, race organizers made the decision to shorten the Olympic cross country course from 50km to 28km and delayed the start by just over an hour.
British skier Andrew Musgrave said the decision to shorten the course “because it’s a bit cold and windy” as a “joke” in a Twitter post.
Not everyone was laughing though.
Remi Lindholm of Finland, who flew through the frozen tundra in his skin tight blue race suit had an issue. His ‘little Remi’ was blue with frostbite.
“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,” he told Finnish media. “It was just about battling through.”
Shockingly for Lindholm, this was the second time his ‘team member’ has had to endure such conditions. During last year’s cross-country race in Ruka, Finland he endured the same frostbite pain in his nether regions, perhaps training for this Olympic moment?
“When the body parts started to warm up after the finish, the pain was unbearable,” he added.
The International Ski Federation said the decision to shorten the course was made for safety reasons “to reduce the time of exposure of athletes in extreme conditions”.
Exposure. Extreme. Conditions. Three words Remi Lindholm hopes to not experience again.
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