At this year’s WorldSkills, Jonas Danninger had to compete against the very best in the industry while battling a persistent cold. A record-breaking 27 countries participated in the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning skill at WorldSkills 2026. As a result, the competition had to be conducted in shifts for the first time. The assessment consisted of four modules spread across four days: fabrication, involving the brazing of a copper component according to precise specifications; assembly and commissioning of a refrigeration system; and fault finding and troubleshooting in both electrical and refrigeration engineering. “Besides expertise, you also need a bit of luck to ensure everything works flawlessly on competition day,” explains trainer Rupert Danninger.
Intensive Preparation
As part of his extensive preparation, Jonas Danninger attended training camps in China and Germany, where he trained alongside participants from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. Together with his trainer, he spent eight days at a training centre in Guangzhou, China. During this time, the entire competition was simulated, with particular focus on the new rules and on analysing the performance of international competitors in the refrigeration and air conditioning trade. “The competitors from Asia and Australia are especially strong and should never be underestimated,” Rupert Danninger notes.
Strong Team from Upper Austria
Alongside Jonas Danninger, seven other talents from Upper Austria competed for medals at this year’s WorldSkills, including chef Hannes Sortsch, CNC machinist Fabian Spitzer, and landscape gardeners Marcel Ortner and Simon Weiß. Upper Austrian tiler Andreas Landl was named "Best of Nation" as Austria’s highest-scoring competitor. Five Medals for Excellence went to Vorarlberg: Janick Gehrer, Elena Mathis, Deniz Mutun, Simon Österle and Sandro Flatz. Styria celebrated awards for Paul Bürki, Julia Kaufmann and Anna Tritscher. Salzburg’s Julia Gschwandtner and Bernhard Moser each received a Medal for Excellence. Lower Austria was represented successfully by Valentina Otzelberger, Paul Meisterhofer and Christoph Schöndorfer. Completing Austria’s strong overall performance were Medals for Excellence awarded to Elias Stephan from Burgenland, Noah Trettenbrein from Carinthia and Abdulkadir Özen from Vienna.
Top Results for Austria
A total of 48 young professionals from 42 different occupations represented Austria at the WorldSkills Championships. Together, they won four silver medals, six bronze medals and 20 Medallions for Excellence. The overall nations ranking was won by host nation China, while Austria secured an impressive seventh place. This makes Austria the third most successful country in Europe, behind Switzerland and France, and just ahead of Germany.
