GENEVA – World champion ski jumper Andreas Kuettel gained new honors on Saturday when he won the celebrity Swiss cheese rolling classic.

Kuettel, 30, beat off a challenge from Miss Earth 2009 Graziella Rogers in rolling lightweight wheels of cheese around an obstacle course in Bern.

The promotional event resurrects an ancient practice in which full-size cheese wheels up to one metre (3.3 feet) in diameter and 27 centimetres (11 inches) thick were rolled around dairies by hand.

Professional cheesemakers can zip around at jogger-like speeds with the wheels, which weigh about 100 kilogrammes (220 pounds) each.

Kuettel took the gold medal in the individual large hill event at this year's Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic.