Concrete and Reinforced Concrete Builders Win Gold at WorldSkills
05.10.2026
Figure: WorldSkills International
Tim Arnold and Jakob Distler won gold in the Concrete and Reinforced Concrete Construction competition at WorldSkills 2026 in Shanghai. The two 20-year-olds from Bavaria are members of the national construction team and were prepared for the competition by national coach Jule Janson.
In the competition, participants had to fully form and pour concrete for five modules. The tasks included a wall intersection with a heart-shaped recess, a staircase modeled after a Chinese garden bridge, a hexagonal table based on the WorldSkills logo, a rebar cage, and a concrete stele. The high workload made time management particularly challenging.
More Than 1,400 Participants in Shanghai
The 48th WorldSkills Competition took place in Shanghai from September 22 to 27, 2026. More than 1,400 participants from over 70 countries and regions competed against one another in a total of 64 trades.
“What an outstanding performance! We are thrilled about the gold medals for our two concrete and reinforced concrete builders,” said Rüdiger Otto, Vice President of the Central Association of the German Construction Industry (ZDB), who accompanied the team to Shanghai. “The WorldSkills Competition has once again demonstrated just how much skill and passion our young talent possesses and how important a good education in the construction industry is.”
In addition to the gold in concrete and reinforced concrete construction, carpenter Florian Dorer from Baden-Württemberg won silver. Tile setter Niko Schleicher placed fifth and bricklayer Leonhard Eham placed sixth; both received a “Medal of Excellence.”
CONTACT
Zentralverband Deutsches Baugewerbe e. V. (ZDB)
Kronenstraße 55–58
10117 Berlin/Germany
