WorldSkills 2024: Ballymena man wins bronze for Team UK

A car repair man from Ballymena has become the latest competitor from Northern Ireland to secure a victory on the world stage.

David McKeown took bronze not in the sporting world but in the WorldSkills 2024 competition – known as the “skills Olympics”.

The 20-year-old came third for Team UK in autobody repair at the competition in France.

David McKeown joined 1,500 other competitors from 80 nations competing in a range of skills disciplines at the ‘skills Olympics’ in Lyon.

He said he was “overwhelmed” when he heard his name being called out for the bronze accolade.

“I was glad it paid off because it is easy for it to not pay off. It felt like it was finally worth the pain it took,” Mr McKeown added.

The bronze medal came after three years of success in regional and national competition, followed by squad selection and a period of intense training.

He was inspired to get involved in autobody repair by his father’s business in Broughshane, County Antrim.

“My brother is a painter, so whenever I was in school he always said ‘I’ll run the paint end and you run the panel end’.

“He’s a really good painter and I wanted to be a good panel man.

“But I wanted it proved that I was the best panel man.”

He said his next dream is to travel across the world and start his own business, such as an autobody repair company.

“You have to believe you will go to any length to make it come true, you have to always stick by that,” he said.

“There’s a lot of late nights in training and a lot of early mornings.

“Mindset is a massive part of the competition, to just show up and believe that you have what it takes.

“Walking in on that Wednesday morning whenever we started competing, if you don’t have that you’re kind of beat already mentally.

“Your mentality and adrenaline is the only friends you have in there to keep you going.”

The idea of the competition is to showcase the wide variety of talents held by apprentices and young professionals in areas such as engineering, construction and computer coding.

WorldSkills UK, a government funded charity, selects, trains and manages the team.

Ben Blackledge, chief executive of WorldSkills UK, said he was delighted Team UK had finished in the top 10 of the medal table.

“High quality skills development is crucial to growing the economy, and Team UK’s medal-winning performance in front of a global audience sends a strong message that the UK is a world-class place to invest, develop talent and create jobs,” he said,

The next WorldSkills competition is to take place in Shanghai in China in 2026.