Gold for Nicola Hochegger at the World Skills Championships in Helsinki, Finland.
Helsinki/Vienna. (OTS) – Gold number two for Austria in the current professional world championship: Styrian Nicola Hochegger is crowned world champion among florists in Helsinki (Finland). The 21-year-old, who works in the family business in Blumen Kubat in Anger, near Weiz, is the best florist in the world.
The newly crowned world champion explains: “I still can’t believe I won gold from the florists. I still can’t find the words and I can’t believe it. The last few days have been really, really tiring! happy. The last day’s task bothered me a little. But honestly, I’m really, really proud of myself – it’s not said often, but I hope it’s okay this time. A big thank you to my expert Johann (Obendrauf, ed.) who supported me for two years, my family and my friend for supporting me and being with me here in Helsinki. Now the party begins!”
During the World Cup, Weizer’s wife created eight different items – from a bridal bouquet to vase fillings and room decor inspired by Scandinavian buildings. International judges rated Hochegger’s achievements with 726 points, giving the florist the gold ahead of her competitors in Switzerland and France. Austria and Styria thus defended the title among florists: in 2019 Julia Leitgeb also won gold at WorldSkills in Kazan.
“Medallion of Excellence” for Salzburger
In fashion technologists, Salzburg’s Lisa Lintschinger took fourth place – just a few points behind podium places – a “Medallion of Excellence”, which is awarded for outstanding achievements after the top three.
The red-white-red aces had just won big last weekend: quarry Anna Karina Feldbauer from Upper Austria also won gold, while Lukas Schwärzler (mechanical engineering) and Lucas Dolinar (CAD technology) from Vorarlberg took silver and bronze, respectively.
Strong Austrian balance sheet
For Styria it is the 44th medal in the WorldSkills: including the Hochegger title, representatives of the state have won twelve gold, eleven silver and 13 bronze medals. In an internal comparison of Austria, only Vorarlberg and Upper Austria have won more WorldSkills medals.
After 44 of the 62 World Cup competitions, Austria holds two gold, silver and bronze medals each, as well as 13 “Medallion of Excellence” (details on this below). In the history of professional world championships, the red-white-red has managed to celebrate a total of 83 gold, 68 silver and 73 bronze medals so far.
“Success goes around the world”
SkillsAustria President Josef Herk explains: “This success of Nicola Hochegger goes around the world! Austria has once again positioned itself as a nation of strong and competent young professionals on the world stage of the best professionals. We also owe the passion and competence that she invoked in the decisive days of competition for the family business, where she learned her craft from scratch. This world championship title is therefore also a title for all family businesses in Austria – Skills Nation Austria is proud of you, dear Nicola!”
“On competition days, being able to do your best under stress without neglecting your creativity is an art. This requires months, even years of intensive preparation and training. Nicola not only proved his enormous talent, but also exemplary discipline and a lot of perseverance. The world championship title and gold medal is an unbelievable success and a great reward for it: Great respect and heartfelt congratulations on this absolutely world-class achievement!” says Mariana Kühnel, Deputy Secretary General of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce ( WKÖ).
WorldSkills as “Special Edition”
It’s a very special debut that will take place in 2022: after Shanghai’s cancellation, WorldSkills competitions will take place all over the world. For the first time in history, the World Skills Championship will be held in a total of 15 countries.
In addition to Austria, there are Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, Luxembourg, Sweden, Switzerland, South Korea, the US and the UK. In the “Skills around the world” version, Austria competes with 45 young specialists competing in 39 professions with more than 1,000 competitors from all over the world.
Enroll in Salzburg as the greatest glory
The competitions in Austria form the crowning of the special edition of the WorldSkills Competition 2022. Seven competitions will be held in Mozart City from November 23 to 27: Specifically, they are concrete construction, structural engineering, electrical engineering, plant electrical, shipping logistics , chemical laboratory technology and heavy vehicle technology. The competition area will be in the Salzburg exhibition center, the competitions will take place at the same time as the BIM career information fair.
Austria’s record medals at this World Cup (Status: October 24, 6pm)
- gold Nicola Hochegger, Styria – Floriculture
- gold Anna Karina Feldbauer, Upper Austria – Bricklayer
- Silver Lukas Schwärzler, Vorarlberg – mechanical engineering
- Silver Patrick Danninger, Upper Austria – refrigeration and air conditioning technology
- bronze Lucas Dolinar, Vorarlberg – CAD mechanical engineering
- bronze Wolfgang Ramminger, Styria – carpenter
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About SkillsAustria
SkillsAustria is a non-profit association of the WKO and, as a center for professional competitions, coordinates the Austrian State Championships (AustrianSkills). The winners represent Austria in the international competitions – EuroSkills and WorldSkills. In addition, SkillsAustria is responsible for preparing and sending the Austrian team to international skills competitions and for public relations. The Austrian Chamber of Commerce has been a member of WorldSkills International since 1958 and regularly sends an Austrian team to international skills championships since 1961. In addition, WKÖ has been a member of WorldSkills Europe since 2007. Austria has been in EuroSkills since the first European Championship in 2008.
SkillsAustria is funded by WKÖ, the nine chambers of commerce in the federal states and organizations specializing in the fields of commerce and crafts, industry, tourism and leisure, information and consulting, commerce and transport. The activities are co-financed by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Economy and the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. The SkillsAustria team is also supported by workwear engelbert strauss, shoes Schütze, Würth, WIFI Austria and the Association for Personal Advice and Personal Care.
About WorldSkills
Founded in 1950, WorldSkills International is now a global not-for-profit organization with 85 member countries on five continents. Its mission is to continually improve the image of craft, industrial and service professions and professional training throughout the world. The objective of this international platform is to promote young professionals and develop new and innovative forms of professional training.
Every two years, WorldSkills International organizes World Skills Championships in different locations. Each WorldSkills member country has the option to send one participant or team of participants per skill. Up to 1,400 participants from WorldSkills member countries now compete in more than 60 professions and vie for gold, silver and bronze medals and, of course, the title of “world champion” in their profession. WorldSkills participants cannot be over 22 years old in the year of competition (exceptions in individual professions up to 25 years old). (PWK430/HSP)
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