Sam Jones wins WorldSkills gold
27th September 2026
CHINA: Sam Jones of the United Kingdom has won the gold medal in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026.
Jones, who works for Runcorn-based Industrial Cooling Equipment and was trained at the Practical Refrigeration Training Centre in Burnley, was announced the winner today after four days of gruelling competition at Shanghai’s National Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Minje Kim of Korea won the silver medal and Xavier Belanger of Canada won bronze. Minje Kim works for Samsung Heavy Industries and is a graduate of Geoje Technical High School, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Xavier Belanger is a student at Le Centre de formation professionnelle de Lachine, Quebec.
On a LinkedIn post, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), an organising partner of the WorldSkills UK competition, described Sam’s success as an “absolutely incredible result” and an “outstanding achievement”.
With a total of 27 competitors, the refrigeration and air conditioning competition was one of the most heavily contested. In addition to the gold, silver and bronze medallists, 11 received medals for excellence. They were:
Zhanpeng Ye, China
Jonas Danninger, Austria
Adam Morgan, Australia
Wing Kin Li, Hong Kong
Jian-Kai Chen, Chinese Taipei
Campbell Brown, New Zealand
Shunta Araki, Japan
Saksit Phimrat, Thailand
Togar Andreas Silaban, Indonesia
Muhammad Amir Fitri Bin Mohd Sefulrizam, Malaysia
Timo Jansen, Germany.
