Buzz
Winning the annual cheese-rolling competition in Gloucester, England—where competitors chase a seven-pound cheese wheel down a steep incline—is no small accomplishment. This year’s victor even managed to cross the finish line after losing consciousness, according to reports from Food & Wine.
Unlike many of her fellow competitors, Delaney Irving, the 2023 cheese-rolling champion, didn’t devote much time to preparing for the event. The 19-year-old from Canada was nearing the end of her six-week European trip when she found out the race would take place on the same day she would be in Gloucester. After making a spontaneous decision to compete, she did a few practice rolls on her hotel bed.
The event involves chasing a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down Cooper’s Hill, located near Gloucester. The cheese, which can reach speeds of up to 80 mph, requires the chasers to keep up if they hope to catch it. As Irving found out firsthand, this can lead to injuries.
"I remember hitting my head, feeling the pain, and then waking up in the medical tent," Irving recalled to Greatest Hits Radio Gloucester after the event. Despite being unconscious during the final stretch, she still managed to reach the bottom of the hill ahead of her fellow competitors, making her the winner of the women’s race and the first Canadian woman to win in the event’s history. (Cheese-rolling has been a tradition in the area since at least 1826.)
Injuries are an inherent part of the cheese-rolling event. During the 2006 race, over two dozen people were injured, including 12 spectators. "We typically treat around 30 to 40 people each year," said Jim Jones, the operations training manager for the local ambulance service, at the time. "The most serious injuries that year were a dislocated finger and a potential fractured ankle."
Even though she blacked out, a CT scan confirmed that Irving didn’t suffer any significant injuries from her victorious tumble. She walked away from Cooper’s Hill with just a few bruises and the grand prize: a seven-pound wheel of cheese.
