Cheese lovers ignore warnings and throw themselves down hill in annual event

Do you love cheese enough to risk concussion, broken legs, or even being knocked unconscious?

These were just some of the injuries after last year’s traditional British cheese roll, but it didn’t put people off coming back for 2024.

Despite pleas from responsible adults to just go to the supermarket and leave Cooper’s Hill well alone, people fell over themselves (literally) to join the event again today.

Competitors were seen flying, somersaulting, sliding and somersaulting down the muddy slope in Gloucestershire.

The event has been an annual fixture since the 1800s, only rarely cancelled due to things such as the pandemic.

This is despite the official event being banned over health and safety in 2010, meaning rebel rollers have had to put on their own unofficial version.

It is dangerous because the incline of the 180-metre hill is very steep, with the slope plunging, flattening a bit and then plunging again.

The 3kg wheel of Double Gloucester can reach speeds of up to 70mph, making catching it extremely tricky, so the winner tends to be just who crosses the finish line first.

Although everyone starts quickly, it takes time for people to pick themselves up again after the inevitable falls, so it doesn’t tend to be a photo finish.

Today, the winner of the first men’s race was German racer Tom Kopke, 22, who said he would be back again next year.

Tom, who runs a YouTube channel when not hurling himself down a hill, said: ‘I promised my grandma I am going to give it to her, so she is going to get the cheese.’

The women’s race was won by Abby Lampe, 23, from North Carolina, who managed it for the second time having first won in 2022.

She said: ‘I found about cheese rolling years ago on the internet and I wanted to defend my title.

‘I don’t know how it looks – only how it feels – but I think I just tumbled down.’

The race comes after ‘cheese roll champion’ Chris Anderson, who has won the race 23 times since he was 16, shared his tips on success.

He advised people: ‘Make sure you know what you are getting into – it is dangerous.

‘If you fall over, get to your feet as quickly as possible.’

He also told people to lean backwards when they are running down.

Throughout his decades of competing, local man Chris, from Brockworth, has learned firsthand of the risks, as he bruised his kidney.

He still competes but hopes to pass the baton to his eldest son soon.

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