Cheese comes home: Dutchman wins historic British downhill race

Three and a half centuries after the Dutch stormed the Medway, Niels Wennemars has claimed a bounty to rival the English navy’s flagship by winning the annual cheese rolling race in Gloucestershire.

The 21-year-old from Dalfsen stayed on his feet while others were tumbling around him before finishing with a forward roll at the bottom of Coopers Hill on Sunday, becoming the first Dutch cheese rolling champion.

Thousands of people attend the event each year, which is broadcast live on the BBC and goes viral on social media channels.

The race has become so big that three men’s races are run, producing three champions. Another was German YouTuber Tom Kopke, who claimed his third successive title in the first race.

Wennemars, wearing a distinctive Dutch retro football shirt, proudly held aloft his prize, a seven-pound (3.2kg) Double Gloucester cheese that the contestants have to chase down the steep grassy hill. The cheese has never been caught in the 190-year history of the race.

He said afterwards that his strategy had been to stay upright as long as possible and lunge for the line.

“Lean back and step”

“What I thought happened, happened. All the guys were going crazy fast in the beginning but they were beginning to fall in the middle. I knew it was going to happen.

“But if you try to stay, and lean back and step at the last point and just go, you will win it,” he says.”

This year’s race took place in record heat, with the competitors enduring temperatures of up to 30C. Some of the races are uphill, with competitors clambering up a 180-metre slope that has a gradient of 26 degrees at its steepest point.

 

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Wennemars gave up his studies last year to concentrate on his social media channels, focusing on unusual sports events. He began by setting a record for climbing the 90 steps of the De Stokte viewpoint tower in his home town.

His father, Erben, and brother Joep are Olympic speed skaters. Joep was tipped for a medal in the 1000m at this year’s Winter Olympics in Milan, but missed out when he collided with his Chinese opponent on the last lap of the race.

Niels said he planned to return to Gloucestershire next year to defend his title. “I’m a God here,” he told NOS by phone. “I’m not exaggerating when I say 200 people had their photo taken with me. And when I take this cheese with me, I get free drinks everywhere.”

He added he was looking forward to bringing his cheese home. “I’m going to taste it actually,” he told the BBC. “It belongs to the Netherlands.”