Dozens of madcap competitors risked their necks on Monday for a shot at glory in one of Britain's most barmy annual events -- chasing a rolling cheese down a steep hill.
Around 3,000 spectators gathered in the rain to roar on the cheese-chasing daredevils who stumbled and tumbled down Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, southwest England.
They raced for 200m down the dangerously steep slope after the wheel-shaped Double Gloucester.
Jason Crowther from Pembrokeshire, west Wales, won the first of the five bone-crunching races to complete a hat-trick of victories over the last three years.
"There's no training you can do for this," said the battered 25-year-old, proudly clutching the 3km to 3.5km cheese.
"You have just got to go for it. It was a bit slippery and I heard something crack, which I think was my knee. But there aren't any tactics involved as you can probably see," he said.
While the winners keep the cheese, race runners-up get ?10 (US$19.85) for their trouble, with a ?5 note the reward for a third-placed finish.
Psychologist Jemima Bullock, 33, from Wellington, New Zealand, won the ladies' race.
"It was a bit slippery out there but I think that actually helped. I guess you've got to be a bit mad to do this," she said as she nursed her bloodied knee.
Oddball Japanese television personality Daisuki Miyazaw, 34, claimed second place in one race.
Seemingly dazed, he said: "We are strong, but it hurts so much," before hobbling off for medical treatment.
Brockworth's very own Chris Anderson won the final race.
"I don't even like cheese much," admitted the grinning 19-year-old.
Twenty people were treated for minor injuries, paramedics said, down from 34 last year.
The unusual event is thought to have its roots in a heathen festival to celebrate the return of spring.
‘EYE FOR AN EYE’: Two of the men were shot by a male relative of the victims, whose families turned down the opportunity to offer them amnesty, the Supreme Court said Four men were yesterday publicly executed in Afghanistan, the Supreme Court said, the highest number of executions to be carried out in one day since the Taliban’s return to power. The executions in three separate provinces brought to 10 the number of men publicly put to death since 2021, according to an Agence France-Presse tally. Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, with most of them carried out publicly in sports stadiums. Two men were shot around six or seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the center
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is leaning into his banking background as his country fights a trade war with the US, but his financial ties have also made him a target for conspiracy theories. Incorporating tropes familiar to followers of the far-right QAnon movement, conspiratorial social media posts about the Liberal leader have surged ahead of the country’s April 28 election. Posts range from false claims he recited a “satanic chant” at a campaign event to artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images of him in a pool with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “He’s the ideal person to be targeted here, for sure, due to
DISPUTE: Beijing seeks global support against Trump’s tariffs, but many governments remain hesitant to align, including India, ASEAN countries and Australia China is reaching out to other nations as the US layers on more tariffs, in what appears to be an attempt by Beijing to form a united front to compel Washington to retreat. Days into the effort, it is meeting only partial success from countries unwilling to ally with the main target of US President Donald Trump’s trade war. Facing the cratering of global markets, Trump on Wednesday backed off his tariffs on most nations for 90 days, saying countries were lining up to negotiate more favorable conditions. China has refused to seek talks, saying the US was insincere and that it
RSS