Styrian medals

Worldskills winners: “The feeling is incredible”

Magdalena Rath from Bad Blumau won a bronze medal in "Digital Construction"(Bild: SkillsAustria/MaxSlovencik/Florian Wieser)

Seven medals for Austria, including two precious metals for Styria and a total of 22 "Medallions for Excellence": the results of this year's Worldskills Championships in Lyon are impressive. This is how the successful skilled workers Magdalena Rath and Florian Gruber are doing now. 

The media have to be patient. Before the interview, Florian Gruber has to put on the gray polo shirt that his friends brought for him from Aigen im Ennstal to Lyon: "#1 Winner" is written on it. Next to it dangles the gold medal that the young man was presented with a little earlier on the podium in the Olympique Lyon stadium. Florian Gruber has officially been the best young tiler in the world since Sunday evening.

"It was incredible, I was speechless. Simply awesome," says the Wieser Handwerk GmbH employee. "I couldn't believe it." Gruber had already imagined a certain chance: "Because only four participants finished at all, I knew that the first four or five could turn out to be the best. But I wouldn't have believed that it would be gold ex aequo." 

Florian Gruber was presented with a "gold" in Lyon(Bild: SkillsAustria/MaxSlovencik/Florian Wieser)

A busy schedule
"I actually always wanted to be a tiler," Gruber recalls. In January, the Ennstal native began intensive preparations for the competition - at weekends, on public holidays, in the evenings after work. There was less time for the brass band, where Gruber plays the flugelhorn, and the rural youth board. 

Digital construction participant wins bronze
Magdalena Rath from Bad Blumau, who won bronze in the "Digital Construction" skill, was also delighted. "I've shown what I can do and it's really nice to be able to take home a medal as a reward." The 47 women and men of Team Austria cheered each other on. "We all hugged each other, it's really nice, this shared feeling." 

Florian Gruber and Magdalena Rath(Bild: Florian Wieser)

Magdalena Rath also knew early on where her path would take her. "I've always been more interested in technology," she says. "I then did the HTL for civil engineering and now I really enjoy working at Ziviltechnikbüro Pilz und Partner." Before returning to her desk, however, a few days' vacation await - well-deserved rest after the four-day competition. 

Find out which other medals went to Austria and read reports from the competition days here:

With three gold medals (Manuel Bender, florist, Upper Austria; the duo Stefan Huber and Christoph Kurz, concrete construction, Lower Austria and Florian Gruber), one silver medal (Lena Prinz, painter, Lower Austria) and three bronze medals (Lisa-Marie Spörk, hotel reception, Vienna; Stefan Moser, chemical laboratory technology, Tyrol and Magdalena Rath), Austria is the sixth best nation at the World Skills Championships - and is ahead of Germany in the medal table. 

Biggest competition comes from Asia
Nevertheless, this is no reason to rest on one's laurels, says Skills Austria and Styrian Chamber of Commerce President Josef Herk: "We are very proud. Austria has done extremely well. Overall, however, it can be said that Asian countries such as China are very strong. The competition never sleeps." 36 gold medals went to Chinese participants in 59 competitions.

We need to train more, "work more, not less" and invest more in young people. Herk believes that Austria is on the right track with dual training and could become even stronger.

Josef Herk with Styrian Minister of Economic Affairs Barbara Eibinger-Miedl in Lyon(Bild: Florian Wieser)

"Worldskills is not just a competition, but also a peace project," says Herk. "Friendship between nations - that's also something we want to pass on to our participants."