Republic bags two golds at 'Olympics of vocational skills

Over four days, 19year-old Victoria Cheong's task was to create eye-catching visual displays for the windows and interiors of shops and department stores to maximise sales.

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The third-year student in experiential product and interior design from Nanyang Polytechnic did so well she beat 13 others from around the world to win a gold medal in the visual merchandising category at the biennial WorldSkills international competition.

The gold, a first for Singapore in this skill area, was one of two gold medals for the Republic at the contest of vocational skills, held in Lyon, France, from Sept 10 to 15.

The Singapore contingent also won four silver medals, two bronze medals and 11 medallions of excellence, which are given to competitors who score 700 points or more, but are not awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal.

Overall, China emerged top with 49 medals, 36 of which were gold, while South Korea came in second with 10 golds among its 32 medals.

Ms Cheong told The Straits Times that although preparation for the competition was rigorous, and at times she felt lonely training solo, she knew she had to keep herself in good spirits to do well.

"I just needed to shift my mindset to a positive one, and I would be able to do better," she said, adding that the win came as a surprise to her.