UK competitors battling for gold and glory at WorldSkills 2024 have done all they can to secure their place in the history books.
Competitions in the 27 skills disciplines have each now come to rapturous conclusions.
Friends, families and Team UK officials spent much of the day running around the vast Eurexpo Exhibition Centre in Lyon to support each competitor as their four-day slog came down to a final 10-second countdown.
Marion Plant, the chief executive of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College and chair of WorldSkills UK, Mandy Crawford-Lee, chief executive of UVAC and Nicki Hay, chair of AELP, were spotted among sector big names gallantly battling through the crowds to cheer on Team UK members as each individual competition came to a close.
Now the 31 members of Team UK, and their fellow 1,400 competitors from around the world, must wait until tomorrow evening’s closing ceremony to find out if they’ve done enough to secure bronze, silver or gold medals.
Crossing the finish line
22-year-old Rosie Boddy, the UK’s aircraft maintenance competitor, was the first to finish her tournament last night.
She was lucky to have most of Team UK, family, and team leaders gathered round the workshop to celebrate her final moments of WorldSkills as day four entailed many overlaps between skills.
The former apprentice from Coleg Cambria told FE Week after she composed herself that finishing felt “absolutely amazing”.
“It’s been really challenging, it’s been a lot of hard work and it’s been a long process so for it to be finally over feels a little bit insane but I’ve enjoyed every minute,” she said.
When asked what her biggest challenge, she said she wouldn’t pinpoint it on one thing.
“I think obviously competing in front of a big crowd, distraction control, things like that, it’s something we don’t have on this scale at national level,” she said.
But she added competing has built her confidence “like no other.”
“If I’d told myself two years ago that I’d be standing where I am right now, I would not believe me.”
And her favourite moment?
“I’d say that moment just then. It’s bittersweet obviously.”
Among the first to complete today was Lincoln College’s Dior Regan in painting and decorating.
Regan toiled right up to the last second before an eruption of applause, cheers and tears signalled the end of her competition in Lyon.
In each of these competitive conclusions, the culmination of months, sometimes years, of training and perfecting their craft was emotional to witness for the assembled crowds.
Traversing across the venue to catch the precisely timed conclusions of each competition wasn’t easy. Crowds from each nation gather around their national competitor’s workstation for those final moments, proudly waving flags, sporting mascots and cheering loudly.
One UK official tells me the dramatic final day of WorldSkills isn’t just a highlight of the competition, but a career highlight too.
From aircraft maintenance to hairdressing, cooking to 3D game art, your author can confidently say every member of this Team UK has done themselves and their country proud.
Show us the medals
All that remains is for competition scores to be tallied up and verified before tomorow’s closing ceremony. Our competitors have been closely observed over the last four days, their techniques put to the test and their work scrutinised by independent experts.
Over night, they will be benchmarked against agreed international standards, with the highest scoring competitors called up to the mainstage to be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals at the ceremony tomorrow evening.
Here’s everything you need to know about tomorrow’s all-important closing ceremony.
Former competitors fly out to support
Every training manager, ambassador, expert that I’ve spoken to since covering WorldSkills has been involved in the organisation since competing their skill way back when.
It’s not hard to deduce that WorldSkills fosters a type of camaraderie that cannot be described, unless you’re part of it.
“This stressful environment does bring you together,” said Alex Whitemore, this year’s competitor in CNC milling. Trauma bonding perhaps?
“Yeah, exactly,” he chuckled.
Former competitors stay in touch with each other after their respective competitions. Some, once established in their careers, return as experts or training managers. Once you enter WorldSkills, you’re in it for life.
On day two, I met two former champions on the tram to Eurexpo Lyon who had come to cheer on this year’s participants.
These were former Moulton College student James Boyes, who won gold in cabinet making at the WorldSkills Special Edition in 2022, and Carlisle College alumnus Ross Fiori, who won a medallion of excellence for Team UK in joinery in 2022.
Boyes and Fiori became close after venturing on a road trip together to compete in the special edition in Basel, Switzerland.
Both were on their way to the exhibition centre to have a gander at how Team UK’s cabinetmaker Isaac Bingham and joiner Harry Scolding were getting on.
I also spotted Craig Kennedy, a bronze medallist from 2022 in car painting, hanging around the workshop to see how this year’s competitor Miguel Harvey was doing.
Yesterday, hairdressing contender Charlotte Lloyd said her colleagues at Reds Hair Company were supportive and understanding of her training schedule and reduced work hours.
“They’re all really supportive because they understand what I’m doing,” she said.
Phoebe McLavy, a bronze medallist from WorldSkills Kazan 2019, who has also come out to Lyon to watch had previously told Lloyd to just enjoy herself.
“She said, ‘enjoy yourself. As long as you do your best and you’re happy then there’s nothing else that really matters. Anything else is a bonus.’ I’m going with that mentality, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Stay on top of the latest by following @feweek on Twitter for live updates. You can tweet your support by using the hashtag #TeamUK.
FE Week is the media partner of WorldSkills UK and Team UK.
