TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan won 2 gold, 3 silver, 10 bronze, and 28 medallions of excellence, totaling 43 awards and an 86% winning rate at the WorldSkills Competition (國際技能競賽) in France, which concluded on Sunday (Sept. 15), achieving its best performance in three years.
The competition, known as the "Skills Olympics," brought together thousands of young talents from around the world. This year, Taiwan trained 58 contestants in 50 categories, including furniture woodworking, beauty, and hairdressing.
Chen Si-yuan (陳思源) triumphed in the refrigeration and air conditioning category, defeating competitors from the U.K. and China. Lin Yung-hsuan (林詠軒) from New Taipei Municipal New Taipei Industrial Vocational High School (NTVS, 新北高工) secured a bronze in the CNC turning category, which had not seen a Taiwanese winner for eight years.
Additionally, Lai Wei-hung (賴韋宏), also from NTVS, earned a bronze in mobile application development.
Labor Minister Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) led the delegation and attended each event, supporting the Taiwanese team and engaging with participants. She expressed pride in the precision and execution displayed by Taiwan's contestants and optimism for the future of Taiwan’s technical and vocational education.
The WorldSkills Competition took place in Lyon, France, from Sept. 10 to 15, with the closing and awards ceremony held on the evening of Sept. 15.