Dordogne. Périgourdins shine at the Careers Olympics

See my news
Follow Succeeding in Périgord

The competition is considered the Olympic Games of professions. The 48th edition of the regional finals of the Skills Olympiads (also called WorldSkills) took place from October 17 to 19 at the Bordeaux exhibition center.

It is aimed at people under the age of 26, studying or working in the nine sectors of the French economy, including the creative arts, agriculture and construction. The aim is to then represent the region during the national final which will take place in Marseille in October 2025.

The Dordogne highlighted

In Bordeaux, the Dordogne stood out thanks to the careers of two Périgourdins including Maëlle Marcheix, a student at the Porte d'Aquitaine vocational high school in Thiviers, in the woodturning sector.

“I didn’t know about this competition and it was a great first for me because I had never found myself in front of so many people”says the high school student. 46,000 visitors pushed open the doors of the exhibition center to admire these emerging talents.

“We had 20 hours to complete it”

During the Olympics, the young woman had to design a wooden dog with its kennel. This creation is largely inspired by the work of Jeff Koons, the “Balloon Dog”. It looks like the dogs that clowns make in the shape of sausages.

“We had 20 hours to complete this project. It seems like a lot, but I finished my piece with only 30 minutes to go. Among the rating criteria, there was the care taken in the finish, respect for dimensions and the quantity of wood used. The goal was to consume as little as possible to improve your grade”adds Maëlle Marcheix

Rewarded work

The young woman admits: “I left exhausted but relieved to have reached the end of my work. I was apprehensive at the start of the competition and I had to put myself in my own bubble and ignore the flashes of visitors. I managed to do all my pieces on the first try, unlike my colleagues who had to rework their elements. And at the end, I got a score of 16/20, with the gold medal as a bonus. »

In the end, 300 Neo-Aquitaine residents were rewarded, including 80 gold medalists. Thibault Landais, the second Périgord winner of the competition, also won first prize in the carpentry category. The young man went to school in Dijon and worked as an apprentice in a company in Saint-Félix-de-Bourdeilles.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.