Joerg Teuchert
Related Articles
WHIZ ENGINEERING: Abi Stansfield competed in the 2022 WorldSkills Finals in Germany
An engineering prodigy was finally able to compete on the world stage after a series of delays caused by blockages and a hard-hitting motorcycle accident.
Abi Stansfield, from Ribble Valley, Lancashire, had trained at Coleg Cambria’s Bersham Road site in Wrexham for almost two years before traveling to Germany for the 2022 WorldSkills Final.
She narrowly missed out on a medal in the CNC Milling category but, with the support of Cambria lecturer Adam Youens, CNC Training Manager for WorldSkills, she showed courage and an abundance of skill.
READ MORE: Winners announced for Lancashire’s best-kept village competition
Abi, who works as a toolmaker at BAE Systems in Blackburn, said: “After training for three years, I was so proud to finally be able to represent my country and wave the flag. It was a dream come true.
“Unfortunately, I just missed out on a medal, but it was an incredible experience, an experience that can never be taken away from me.”
Cambria speaker Adam Youens praised her for her resilience and adaptation when the Shanghai WorldSkills competition was canceled due to Covid-19.
He said: “Abi’s journey has been a long one, starting with domestic competition in 2019 when she won bronze and was chosen to be part of Squad UK.”
“She would spend more than 18 months training with three others who were competing for this category – mainly at our Bersham Road site, where the facilities include all the latest and state-of-the-art machinery – for the one place to represent the UK in Shanghai.
“In 2021 she was chosen to compete in the EuroSkills competition, and yet another setback occurred when the UK chose not to attend due to the pandemic.
“A month later she had a motorbike accident which damaged her knee, but throughout it she maintained her focus and motivation and continued to train at home or online as much as she needed. could.”
Adam added: “Abi has been working hard on rehabilitating her knee after undergoing surgery to fix it which has helped her get back on her feet and start training for the special edition competition at Leonberg, Germany, just a few weeks ago.
“Unfortunately she missed out on a medal by one point but she was amazing through it all and competed at the highest level in the world – we are all so proud of her.”
READ NEXT:
