This Canadian Woman Fell And Was Knocked Unconscious During A UK Cheese Rolling Race But Still Won
Delaney Irving passed out after falling down but managed to roll over the finish line before all the other contestants.
Delaney Irving, a 19-year-old woman from Vancouver Island, Canada, came out first at an annual cheese-rolling race at in the UK on Monday May 29, even though she was knocked unconscious for a period of time on her way down the slope.
Every year, at the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake near Gloucester, hundreds of contestants chase a three-kilogram Double Gloucester cheese wheel down a 180-meter-long hill.
The first person to cross the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese.
In the now-viral footage, Irving can be seen attempting to run down the near-vertical hill before falling head-first.
She passed out but managed to roll over the finish line before all the other contestants.
“I remember running and then I hurt my head and then I woke up in the [medical] tent. I still don’t really believe it, but it feels great,” she told Reuters after she regained her senses.
The ground had been reported to be extra hard this year due to a lack of rain.
Irving had been backpacking in Europe at the time and signed up for the famous extreme sporting event on a whim.
“Today when I got to the hill, and I was looking over it, I’m thinking this is probably not a good idea. But I just have to do it,” she told Canadian outlet CHEK News.
As there were no police or paramedics at the site, she visited a hospital afterward for a precautionary checkup.
With at least 200 years of history, the tradition is believed to have been first held by local villagers.
After winning the cheese wheel, Irving said she is keen on defending her title in 2024.
