While the 2022 WorldSkills Competition is still ongoing, the baking event finished on 15 October, with the results being announced a day later on the 16^th. Australian apprentice Rachel Crawford achieved excellent results, placing fourth and receiving a Medallion for Excellence for her efforts.

Rachel was born into a hospitality family; both of her parents are chefs, and she has loved food her whole life.

This love led her to begin a Certificate III in Patisserie and a Certificate III in Baking at CIT in Canberra. It was her teachers there who encouraged Rachel to enter a WorldSkills regional competition. From there, she was invited to compete in the 2021 WorldSkills Australia National Championships in the Retail Baking—Bread category.

After winning gold there, Rachel was invited to compete at 46^th WorldSkills International Competition.

“It gives me a great sense of accomplishment to even get this far and is proof that hard work pays off. I am thankful for the opportunity and am looking forward to the adventure.” Rachel said of being asked to represent Australia on the international stage.

In the lead up to the competition, the Canberra resident moved up to Queensland to train under expert John Reminis, former WorldSkills International competitor himself, in order to get prepared for her own competition.

This year’s WorldSkills Competition was a ‘special edition’. It was originally slated to take place in Shanghai in August, 2021, but that event was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic prevention and control restrictions in China.

Instead, apprentices in almost every single skilled field headed across the globe, with the 61 individual skills competitions taking place across 15 countries and 7 regions.

The event this year is still taking place, being set over 12 weeks between 7 September and 26 November.

Rachel’s event was one of many taking place in Switzerland this month. The Bakery and Patisserie & Confectionary section of the WorldSkills Championships took place in Richemont, Lucerne, on 10-15 October.