The Winter Olympics was blasted with a bone-chilling -24C making it one of the coldest Games in history - and a mind-boggling -34C is forecast this week.
The Beijing Games are on course to beat the previous coldest Games in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994, when it averaged at around -25C.
At the time, locals feared it would be too cold for the reindeer at the opening ceremony of the Nordic games.
In China, competitors, coaches and Olympic veterans spoke of their fears for the week ahead if the mercury does drop to -35C in the mountain region of Chongli.
Team GB freeskier Gus Kenworthy said: “When it gets to -35C, it is not just dangerous physically, the skis can freeze.
“So it gets a bit too much when it is that cold. It is the same for everybody. But it is brutal.”
Swiss ski technician Robert Polesel, 57, a veteran of three Games, also warned the freezing conditions can be dangerous.
He said: "You cannot breathe properly when it is that cold. They have to look at whether it is dangerous for health.”
Athletes have been hitting out at organisers, with complaints about the extreme cold.
Swede Frida Karlsson was close to collapsing at the end of her women’s skiathlon.
Under the International Ski Federation rules, competitions are not allowed to take place when temperatures drop below -20C. Temperatures measured -13C when Karlsson competed.
But Swedish team boss Anders Bystroem claimed it was closer to -31C with wind chill.
He said: "We have the cold limits, but I do not know if they also measure the wind effect."
Aussie coach Shawn Fleming said the temperatures were "not unknown", but added that once it gets "into the -30s, you have to be ready for it".
It comes as the China Meteorological Administration issued a blizzard warning for Sunday warning that saying significant snowfall is expected in large parts of northern China.
This includes Beijing, the capital and current site of the Winter Olympics.
Yesterday's snowfall was the first since the Winter Olympics started on February 4.
Some events had to be rescheduled like the Women's Freeski slopestyle qualification in Zhangjiakou, according to a notice on the Beijing 2022 official Olympic website said.
Authorities issued a blue blizzard warning, which is the lowest of the country's four-tiered alerts, and some regions were forecasted to receive four centimetres of snow.
The China Meteorological Administration notice said: "It is expected that there will be heavy snow in parts of central and southern Inner Mongolia, northern Shanxi, central and northern Hebei, northern Beijing, southern Tianjin, eastern and southern Liaoning, and Xinjiang along the Tianshan Mountains today."
