Mature cheese-roller beaten by young, YouTubing upstart | Gloucestershire

It was billed as a major debut: a confusing, bone-jarring downhill race between an all-time champion and a young upstart.

After hype and hyperbole, the lads prevailed as 24-year-old German YouTuber Tom Kopke beat local hero Chris Anderson, 38, in the annual cheese rolling event in the English West Country.

In post-race interviews at the foot of Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire, Kopke said: “If that hill is hell, I’m the devil.” Anderson, who came out of retirement at Kopke’s challenge, initially took the lead, but Kopke said: “I thought, ‘I’m going to kick his ass.'”

He duly did so and won his third toss in three years; He won the prize in the double round of Gloucester, in which he and his rivals raced down a terrifyingly steep hill. When asked to explain his method of preparation, he replied: “Turn off your brain and go for it.”

The couple embraced below. Anderson, who came in second, admitted that he was a little scared at the top and realized that the game was over when he saw Kopke rushing past him.

The origins of the incident are lost in the mists of time. Written records of this date back almost 200 years, but 23-time winning groundsman Anderson, who grew up in the village of Brockworth where the event took place, thinks it may have started 400 years ago. “Perhaps it was an ancient pagan ritual to bring good luck for the harvest,” he said.

Anderson’s tip for success is to refuse to sacrifice control for speed. “Obviously you have to be fast, but overall it’s better to stay in control than to go straight ahead.”

The event used to be a local affair but has grown into something more global in recent years. Contestants travel from all over the world, and YouTubers and influencers throw themselves down the 1:2 slope, attracting millions of views.

Kopke, who makes videos under the name Tooleko, has nearly 500,000 subscribers and is a veteran cheesemaker as well as taking part in Thailand’s underground fights and reindeer races.

Cheese rolling has become so popular that the BBC streamed this year’s event on iPlayer. The company had three reporters on the scene, and two reporters were editing its live blog.

The race in which Kopke and Anderson participated was one of seven races lasting several hours. There were three men’s and one women’s downhill races. There were also kids and mixed adult uphill races, which were less dangerous but sweatier.

The second men’s downhill race was won by 21-year-old Niels Wennemars of the Netherlands, who continues the family tradition of sporting excellence, whose father Erben and brother Joep are both world champion speed skaters.

“If you can stand and stay on your feet, you win,” he said. “If you live in fear, you will die in fear, and that is the worst way to live.”

27-year-old Alix Heugas from the Basque region of France won the women’s downhill race. He said: “I had no technique, no training, I just winged it. I’ll eat cheese with my friends and family.”

The last race of the day was won by 19-year-old American Otto Linkogle from Florida. “My heart was pounding and you need to go,” he said. “I didn’t practice.”

The risks inherent in the event meant that: Tewkesbury district The security advisory group has officially declared it “unsafe.”

Murray Stewart, the council’s lead member for environmental services, said: “Cheese rolling is a unique tradition in our borough and we have no intention of stopping it.” But the security group said it was particularly concerning how emergency services might respond in the event of a major incident with many deaths.

While human participants often suffer bumps, bruises, and worse, the cheeses are generally in good condition and remain edible afterward; despite this year’s very high temperatures. They are stored in the refrigerator until needed and wrapped carefully to ensure they remain intact.

Despite Anderson’s disappointment, his family still came home with a slice of cheese after his son William won one of the children’s uphill races. The 11-year-old said he plans to continue the family tradition by racing downhill when he is old enough.