BREAKING: Austria crowns the furious final of the professional world championships in Salzburg with another world champion title and two bronze medals
WorldSkills: Concrete workers Jonas Schulner and Oliver Waily (Lower Austria) win gold, chemical laboratory technician Caroline Pahle (Tyrol) and forwarding logistics specialist Marko Nebrigic (Vbg.) secure bronze.
Salzburg – Red-White-Red sweeps the board once again at the WorldSkills final, the 46th professional world championships for skilled workers (no apprentices!) in Salzburg: the Lower Austrians Jonas Schulner from Großgerungs and Oliver Waily from Waldenstein become world champions in the team competition of concrete workers. It is the sixth gold medal for Team Austria at this professional world championship.
The Tyrolean secured herself in the chemical laboratory technology competition Caroline Pahl a bronze medal. The red-white-red medal trio is completed by Marko Nebrigic. The Vorarlberger wins bronze in the forwarding logistics competition.
Photos from the award ceremony and the winners You will find here (will be continuously added).
The winning specialists were honored on Sunday evening in front of 1,000 guests at the “Closing Ceremony” in the Salzburg Exhibition Center. A total of around 30,000 people followed the competitions on site over the three days of the competition.
Austria’s concrete workers are world class
Oliver Waily and Jonas Schulner, who work for Leyrer + Graf, have scored points over their international colleagues with their complete commitment and the highest level of accuracy. Specifically, the Lower Austrian world champion duo erected a large girder and a reinforcement cage – over a complex wall formwork. You have realized different wall thicknesses, gradations and angles as well as a pipe penetration. They concreted part of it – and incorporated a yin-yang symbol into the surface of the piece of wall.
In the first statement, Oliver Waily emphasized: “You have the feeling that you have done a good job, that you have given 130 percent. Then you wait for the podium. The fact that it really has become the first is about half a millimeter – and we were ahead.”
Team colleague Jonas Schulner explains: “The day before the competition I said: Never! He can’t stand it mentally, he’ll be torn apart. I lay in bed: it doesn’t help, we have to do it now. That we have gold, unbelievable. I’m just happy now. I’ll never look at the plan again, what we built there. It doesn’t matter, we won.”
Waily continues: “We didn’t train for a second unnecessarily. Every second was important for us to make it. It’s up to us, but it wouldn’t have been possible without our coach and the company. The medal is really heavy, tomorrow my neck will definitely hurt.” Silver in the concrete workers goes to Germany, bronze to China. An unbelievable series of successes continues: The red-white-red concrete builders, coached by Thomas Prigl, have won gold at every World Cup or European Championship since 2015.
Tyrolean chemical laboratory technician takes bronze
The Tyrolean chemical laboratory technician is also very happy Caroline Pahl: The 22-year-old from Jenbach, who works at Novartis AG, is a sensational third. In doing so, she secured the first ever Austrian world championship medal for chemical laboratory technicians. During the competition, the Tyrolean analyzed the ingredients of medicines, identified contamination and made calculations – and convinced with analytical accuracy and professional handling of the devices and chemicals on the global stage.
Pahle still can’t believe the success: “The third best in the world in chemical laboratory technology! I’m overwhelmed, full of joy and really relieved that I made it. The competition days were pretty tough, the projects were really, really difficult and tough. But I got through it, did every task and now I’m really proud of myself.” The bronze medal winner only had to admit defeat to competitors from China (gold) and Singapore (silver).
Bronze for Vorarlberg forwarding logistics
The first medal for Vorarlberg at this World Cup special edition – the competitions were held in a total of 15 countries, with Salzburg marking the final Marko Nebrigic: The forwarding logistician from Nenzing wins bronze. The Gebrüder Weiss employee received the international jury with a strong performance – he designed interlinked freight logistics. The Vorarlberger says: “The emotions are brutal right now. I’m shaking all over, even my voice says a little. I’m overjoyed to have been able to stand on the podium here on this great stage. Personally, I judged my performance to be much worse than it actually was. I didn’t expect this success at all. I’m even happier that I’ve now achieved bronze. The last few days have been really exhausting – not just physically, but more mentally. You always have to stay focused, you get tunnel vision in front of the computer. Today there is still a lot of cheering – maybe there will also be a beer or two.” Gold in the forwarding logistics goes to China, Singapore takes silver.
Three awards for strong performance
The strong performance of the Austrian participants rounds off three Medallions for Excellence, which are awarded for outstanding performance just behind the medal ranks: Maurer Killian Lupinsky (Karl Puchleitner BaugesmbH) from Styria, electrical engineer Christopher Rumpler (Windisch Elektro Technik), also from Styria, and Philip Brueckner (voestalpine Stahl) from Upper Austria receive these awards.
Killian Wallnerthe Salzburg local hero from St. Johann im Pongau, who works for Liebherr, came in ninth in the highly competitive competition for agricultural and construction machinery technicians.
Austria second best team in the EU
In the medal table, Austria is a sensational second in the EU – only France is ahead of Team Austria. China won the international medal table at the WorldSkills 2022 SE, followed by Korea and Taiwan.
One of the most successful world championships of all time
Austria thus won a total of 12 medals (6 in gold, 2 in silver and 4 in bronze) at this World Skills Championship. This year’s professional world championship is one of the most successful of all times for red-white-red – together with Linz 1983 (a total of 19 medals, five times gold, eight times silver and six times bronze) and Kazan 2019, where Team Austria won twelve medals conquered (six gold, five silver and one bronze).
Statements: “Ready for the future”
Said in his opening speech Martin Kocher, Federal Minister of Labor and Economics: “The last three days here in Salzburg have been extremely exciting. The passion, the emotions and the concentrated competence were there at all times. Internationally, WorldSkills stands for the highest quality and innovation. The World Cup not only connects people across countries, but also shows that our young professionals are ready for the challenges of the future. The World Cup participants have shown that they can contribute solutions to problems such as climate change. I would like to congratulate all participants on their great achievements.”
Salzburg governor Wilfried Haslauer: “This final is a very special moment for all of us because it marks the final of a clear competition. In the last few days we have seen 97 participants from 36 nations here, but also remarkable performances, incredible passion and outstanding skills. Thank you to everyone involved in this single event.”
Amelie Big, Vice President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce: “Anyone who sees the beaming faces of the participants immediately knows the skills spirit. You showed the whole world what you’ve got. None of you only do the bare minimum, each and every one is willing to go the extra mile. You are role models for all young people, your passion is an inspiration for all of us.” She also announced the new initiative “Skills Week Austria”, with which Austria wants to spread the skills spirit to the entire population from 2023.(PWK497/ hsp)
Results of the Austrians at the 7 WorldSkills competitions in Salzburg
1 gold, 2 bronze, 3 medallions for excellence:
GOLD: Jonas Schulner and Oliver Waily – Lower Austria – concrete building
BRONZE: Caroline Pahl – Tyrol – chemical laboratory technology
BRONZE: Marko Nebrigic – Vorarlberg – forwarding logistics
Medallion for Excellence: Killian Lupinsky – Styria – building construction
Medallion for Excellence: Christopher Rumpler – Styria – electrical engineering
Medallion for Excellence: Philip Brueckner – Upper Austria – plant electrics
9th place: Killian Wallner – Salzburg – agricultural and construction machinery technology
overall result WorldSkills 2022 Special Edition: All medals of Austria
6 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze, 20 medallions for excellence:
Gold: Christoph Pessl – Styria – Painter
Gold: Florian Blüm – Tyrol – Sanitary and heating technology
Gold: Alexander Gfellner – Upper Austria – Tiler
Gold: Anna Karina Feldbauer – Upper Austria – Stonemason
Gold: Nicholas Hochegger – Styria – Floristry
Gold: Jonas Schulner and Oliver Waily – Lower Austria – concrete building
Silver: Lukas Schwärzler – Vorarlberg – mechanical engineering
Silver: Patrick Daninger – Upper Austria – refrigeration and air conditioning technology
Bronze: Luke Dolinar – Vorarlberg – mechanical engineering CAD
Bronze: Wolfgang Ramminger – Styria – carpenter
Bronze: Caroline Pahl – Tyrol – chemical laboratory technology
Bronze: Marko Nebrigic – Vorarlberg – forwarding logistics
In addition, Team Austria got a total of 20 Medallions for Excellence (for outstanding achievements just below the medal ranks):
Gregory and Jacob Litschauer (Mechatronics team competition, Lower Austria) – Carina Wärisch (Hotel reception, Lower Austria) – Anna Sauer (Confectioner, Tyrol) – Kevin Emhoefer (CNC turning, Vbg.) – Atakan Kocaman (CNC milling, Vbg.) – Lena Decker (Graphic Design, Tyrol) – Tim Black (IT network and system administration, Lower Austria) – Niko Rider and Mathias Winkler (Robot system integration, Styria) – Daniel Schingl (Welding, Upper Austria) – Lorenz Herzog (Electronics, Upper Austria) – Dominik Kainersdorfer (Digital building, Stmk.) – Marvin Gornicec and Florian Rauch (Mobile Robotics, Styria) – Lisa Lintschinger (Fashion Technology, Salzburg) – Christopher Guggi (Cook, Carinthia) – Natalie Fehringer (Restaurant service, Lower Austria) – Julian Erharter and Christopher Schipflinger (Team competition garden designer, Tyrol) – Markus Maier (Automotive engineering, Styria) – Killian Lupinsky (building construction, Styria) – Christopher Rumpler (Electrical engineering, Styria) – Philip Brueckner (plant electrics, Styria)
Pictures from the competitions (Credit: Skills Austria/ Florian Wieser)
(constantly updated)
• https://www.flickr.com/photos/skillsaustria/albums/with/72177720303944681
Video material from the competitions (constantly updated)
• https://vimeo.com/showcase/9805315
Questions & contact:
Christopher Sammer
SkillsAustria
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+43 664 233 0908 | christoph.sammer@skillsaustria.at
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