Every year hundreds of people show up to participate and watch the cheese rolling race in England. A 19-year-old Canadian woman was knocked unconscious during the event, but she managed to win anyway.
Delaney Irving, the winner of the women’s race, entered without any prior preparation or training, in the annual event that rolls cheese down an extremely steep 600-foot hill.
Competitors chased a 7lb Double Gloucester wheel of cheese up Coopers Hill in Brockworth, near Gloucester, where the young Canadian was ending a six-week tour of Europe.
It was the day of the race that Irving decided to enter the competition. “All we did to get ready was my friend and I took turns jumping on our hotel bed and doing a cartwheel to the best of our ability,” the winner, from Nanaimo, British Columbia, told CTV News.
🇨🇦 Speaking to us afterwards, Delaney Irving confirmed she was okay and told us she was heading off to hospital as a precaution #cheeserolling pic.twitter.com/8yBbzXsYDl
— Greatest Hits Radio Gloucester (@GHRGloucester) May 29, 2023
While she watched videos of previous races, this did not prepare the Canadian for how steep the hill actually was, with few competitors managing to stay on their feet the entire way down.
Irving was knocked unconscious while rolling down the hill. When the woman came to, she was in the medical tent. She though she was still holding the wheel of cheese.
All the Canadian remembers is going after the cheese wheel. “I remember hitting my head and now I have the cheese,” the woman said, according to the Associated Press. “I still can’t believe it, but she feels great,” she added.
The young woman is fine, showing no injuries according to the CT scan she had after the race.
The men’s race was won by 28-year-old Matt Crolla of Manchester. “I’m glad I’m pretty conscious and not having a lot of serious injuries,” Crolla told the BBC.
The cheese rolling race has been held on Cooper’s Hill since 1826, although the sport of cheese rolling is believed to be much older.
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