European Gold Medallist Isabelle Barron is about to step back on to a global stage and show the World what she is made of.
The 23-year-old Digital Construction specialist, is going for gold at WorldSkills Lyon 2024, known as the ‘skills Olympics’ in France, in September (10-15).
Isabelle, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, was crowned the best in Europe at last year’s Euroskills, held in Gdansk, Poland, and has now been included in Team UK, an elite 31 strong unit, heading for the ultimate test.
“I am so delighted to have the chance to go to the World Finals and face the ultimate test,” said Isabelle. “It is such an honour to represent my country once again.
“Competition has helped me immeasurably in so many ways. I tend to be quite an anxious person, but the intensity of focussing on competing, in public, and at such an elite level seems to have really helped me.”
Outside of developing technical skills, as a member of Squad and Team UK, Isabelle also had an opportunity to take part in WorldSkills UK bootcamps. Every few months Squad and Team members from every skill come together with the WorldSkills UK performance and wellbeing coaches to learn about performance psychology and develop soft skills like resilience, leadership and communication as well as methods of dealing with anxiety and stress which are a normal part of any competition. This training really helps with keeping focus in the competition.
“Yes, I won a gold at Euroskills in Gdansk, but now I am going to find out how good I am against the very best in the World.
“Being involved with WorldSkills UK for the last 3 years has been an incredible experience, opening my eyes to the true potential of me and my career.”
Isabelle, who gained a First Class degree in Architectural Technology at Sheffield Hallam University, now works for construction management company WSP, supporting on major building projects.
Team UK, powered by WorldSkills UK in partnership with Pearson.
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