Munich YouTuber wins UK cheese roll race

A YouTuber from Munich has retained his title as a champion cheese chaser at the Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake competition in Gloucestershire, UK.

Tooleko still among fastest cheese chasers

Tom Kopke, a YouTuber from Munich who goes by the name of Tooleko, has defended his title as champion cheese chaser at the famous Cooper’s Hill cheese rolling competition in southwestern England.

Seven uphill and downhill races take place on the hill, which has a 1:2 gradient, in the spring every year. In the most famous downhill races, competitors chase a 3-kilogram wheel of Double Gloucester cheese, which can reach speeds of up to 110 kilometres per hour. 

The winner simply has to cross the finish line first to win the cheese. The competition has been taking place since 1836, and in all those years, no one has caught the cheese. The race is not without its risks, as participants often fall on the 90-metre-long hill on the way down, rolling and colliding with others in pursuit of the cheese.

"It's everyone's race, and you have just got to give your best, and the best man wins," 23-year-old Kopke told the BBC following his win. “If that hill is hell, then I am the devil”. 

Further European content creators had travelled to compete. Another race was won by 21-year-old Niels Wennemars of the Netherlands. "I'm a god here!" he said, "I've already had my picture taken with people 200 times, without exaggeration”. Becoming a cheese-chasing champion seems to prompt both diabolism and deification equally.

Kopke beats Anderson, the world record holder

Not only did Kopke win one of the races, but beat Chris Anderson, a Guinness World Record holder who has won the race 23 times. Kopke challenged Anderson, who came out of cheese-chasing retirement to take part.

"The entire race I saw Chris in front of me and I had to get him," Kopke told the BBC. The bank holiday tradition saw temperatures of 30 degrees celcius. Kopke said the conditions were the best he had ever seen.

Somewhat of a local hero, Anderson first entered the race in 2004 at the age of 17. According to him, the secret is not to fall over and, if you do, to get back up as quickly as possible.