Josef Koeberl stayed in a glass box filled up to his shoulders with ice cubes for 2 hours, 30 minutes and 57 seconds on Saturday. After finishing, he then enjoyed a celebratory ice cream.

A crowd of people watched on as Mr Koeberl beat his previous best from 2019 by 30 minutes in the town square of Melk in Lower Austria.

More than 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of ice cubes were needed to fill up the box, which Mr Koeberl stepped inside while wearing nothing but swim trunks.

In order to fight the ‘wave of pain’ caused by the freezing temperatures, he says he was trying to focus on positive emotions.

Mr Koeberl told reporters: ‘I’m fighting the pain by visualizing and drawing on positive emotions so I can dampen this wave of pain. ‘That way I can endure.’ After being taken out of the ice box by helpers he said that the sun felt ‘really great’ on his back.

Mr Koeberl is planning to beat his own record one more time in Los Angeles, USA in 2021. His team said that Mr Koeberl’s personal record is also the current world record when it comes to exposing the body to ice for as long as possible.

Metro uk