A 24-year-old from Munich just kept a Gloucestershire legend from reclaiming his crown. German YouTuber Tom Kopke edged past local record-holder Chris Anderson to win the first men's downhill race at the Cooper's Hill cheese-rolling event on Monday, chasing an 8-pound wheel of Double Gloucester down the near-vertical slope and extending his winning streak to three years, ITV News reports. "This year's cheese will taste the sweetest of all the cheeses I have won," Kopke said, adding that his race strategy was essentially to "shut off your brain and go for it."
Anderson, 38, who scored 23 cheese-rolling victories between 2005 and 2022 and holds a Guinness World Record for his dominance, came out of retirement after Kopke publicly challenged him. The unofficial event—staged by "rebel" organizers since safety concerns ended the sanctioned race in 2010—unfolded in scorching conditions near 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with thousands lining the course.
Competitors in the downhill races sprinted, tumbled, and slid some 200 yards down the 1:2 gradient, chasing full wheels supplied by longtime cheesemaker Rod Smart, as police monitored the centuries-old spectacle and closed roads around Cooper's Hill. A total of seven races were held, with Ariel Dempsey from Michigan winning the women's uphill event for the second year in a row, the BBC reports. Cheese-rolling is apparently in the Anderson genes: His 11-year-old son William and his 16-year-old nephew Xander won the children's uphill races.
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