When it comes to his chosen extreme sport, Matt Crolla is officially a big cheese. And the 28-year-old says his only preparation for becoming a champion was to be "an idiot".
Matt, from Manchester bit the dust in order to be a winner of the renowned cheese rolling competition - by tumbling down a hill with hundreds of others chasing a 7lb Double Gloucester cheese wheel. The world-famous event, which dates from 1826, went ahead despite safety fears.
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Matt won the first race. The women's race was won by Delaney Irving who was knocked unconscious as she chased the cheese. Matt and other competitors hurled themselves down the almost vertical Coopers Hill in Brockworth near Gloucester.
Rubbing his shoulder after the race he said: "I'm glad I'm pretty conscious and I've not got many serious injuries." Asked how he prepared for the race he said: "I don't think you can train for it, can you? It's just being an idiot." Holding aloft his prize - a cheese wheel, he said: "I'm a big fan of cheese - I'm buzzing."
Participants in the event race 200 yards down the hill. The cheese is given a one second head start and can reach speeds of 70mph. In 1993 15 people were injured - four seriously. Rugby players stand at the bottom of the hill to catch those rolling down.
This year's women's champion Ms Irving, 19, from Vancouver Island in Canada, said the race was "good... now that I remember it". "I remember running, then bumping my head, and then I woke up in the tent," she said. "I still don't really believe it, but it feels great.
Kyla Hill, of Team Cheese, the group of volunteers who help organise the event, said she was "passionate" about cheese rolling. "It puts us [Brockworth village] on the map, makes us a bit famous, draws people in from over the world," she said. "I was talking to a couple last night who'd come over from Washington especially."
Another international winner was Ryoya Minami from Japan. Asked why he entered the race, he replied "because I love cheese".
Ms Hill added others had come from Texas and Switzerland for the event. Swiss pair Midori Gasseling and Kim Scherer tried their luck but did not win. "It's way tougher than it looks," Midori said.
South Western Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust confirmed one person from the event was taken to hospital with injuries. They added: "We were called at 12:07 on 25 May to an incident in the Gloucester area. "We sent a double-crew land ambulance and an operational officer. One individual was taken to Gloucester Royal Hospital."
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