Kiwi 'couldn't breathe, couldn't talk' after cheese race win in UK

RNZ News

27-05-2025

Participants take part in the annual cheese rolling at Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, England, Monday, May 27, 2024.
Photo:
AP / Jacob King
A New Zealand man who emerged victorious from an annual race in England - where participants fling themselves down a hill in an effort to catch a wheel of cheese - says he won't be competing in the event again.
According to
an Associated Press report on last year's event
, races have been held at Cooper's Hill, since at least 1826, and the sport of cheese-rolling is believed to be much older.
Thousands of people turn out to watch trhe event and cheer on the competitors, the report said.
Byron Smith told
Morning Report
he had suffered a broken rib, a collapsed lung and internal injuries while winning this year's Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake near the city of Gloucester.
"I did the race last year and I came out scot free because it was a lot wetter so it was more of a slip and slide.
"This year it was quite dry and I just remember banging and tumbling the whole way down.
"When I stood up couldn't really breathe, couldn't really talk and figured I must have banged my ribcage on something," Smith said.
The traditional event attracts people from around the globe who come to chase a 7lb Double Gloucester cheese down the steep Coopers Hill.
Photo:
AP / Jacob King
Smith said he had become a minor celebrity in the London hospital where he was recovering but he'd told his wife, if he won, he would not attempt the race again.
"She's actually a nurse and she probably thinks it's a waste of public resources - which isn't that far off."
Smith said he was looking forward to sharing his victor's spoils of four blocks of cheese with his friends - when he got out of hospital.