A 19-year-old woman from Canada was knocked out while competing in England’s annual Cheese Rolling event on Monday, but still won the women’s race anyway.
“I remember hitting my head, I remember it hurting and then I remember waking up in the (medical) tent,” Delaney Irving, from Vancouver Island, recalled of her horrifying-looking fall to Greatest Hits Radio Gloucester.
Irving, who was unconscious as she tumbled over the finishing line, visited a hospital as a precautionary measure.
Annabel Lee-Ellis via Getty Images
Irving was one of the hundreds of people from across the world who, across multiple races, threw themselves down the steep Cooper’s Hill in Brockworth, near Gloucester, in pursuit of a 7-pound wheel of Double Gloucester cheese.
The tradition reportedly dates back almost 200 years, although some historians say it’s more than three times older than that.
This year, recent dry weather made the ground unusually hard, reported Gloucestershire Live.
Annabel Lee-Ellis via Getty Images
Irving’s mother, Krista Endrizzi, told Global News from her home in Nanaimo that she hadn’t known her daughter was going to compete.
“She looked like a ragdoll,” she said of the “disturbing” footage of the fall. “And when she landed she wasn’t moving. It was not every parent’s dream. But she’s okay so that’s all that matters.”
Irving has suggested she’ll defend her title in 2024. Her mother is less than keen, though. “I don’t want her to do it again. We’ll watch,” Endrizzi told Global News. “I’ll be restraining her.”
See more photos from the 2023 Cheese Rolling event here:
Annabel Lee-Ellis via Getty Images
GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND – MAY 29: An injured participant is helped down the hill after being injured during the third Cooper’s hill men’s downhill cheese race on May 29, 2023 in Gloucester, United Kingdom. This year, with no police or paramedics in attendance, players will chase a 9-pound, round Double Gloucester cheese down Cooper’s Hill. The first one to make it to the bottom and across the finishing line wins the cheese. (Photo by Annabel Lee-Ellis/Getty Images)
Annabel Lee-Ellis via Getty Images
GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND – MAY 29: Participants take part in one of the Cooper’s hill downhill cheese rolling races on May 29, 2023 in Gloucester, United Kingdom. This year, with no police or paramedics in attendance, players will chase a 9-pound, round Double Gloucester cheese down Cooper’s Hill. The first one to make it to the bottom and across the finishing line wins the cheese. (Photo by Annabel Lee-Ellis/Getty Images)
Annabel Lee-Ellis via Getty Images
GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND – MAY 29: Matt Crolla (C), aged 28 from Salford, wins the first men’s downhill Cooper’s Hill Cheese race on May 29, 2023 in Gloucester, United Kingdom. This year, with no police or paramedics in attendance, players will chase a 9-pound, round Double Gloucester cheese down Cooper’s Hill. The first one to make it to the bottom and across the finishing line wins the cheese. (Photo by Annabel Lee-Ellis/Getty Images)
Annabel Lee-Ellis via Getty Images
GLOUCESTER, ENGLAND – MAY 29: Participants take part in the second Cooper’s hill men’s downhill race on May 29, 2023 in Gloucester, United Kingdom. This year, with no police or paramedics in attendance, players will chase a 9-pound, round Double Gloucester cheese down Cooper’s Hill. The first one to make it to the bottom and across the finishing line wins the cheese. (Photo by Annabel Lee-Ellis/Getty Images)