Delegates are arriving in Calgary for WorldSkills 2009.
The arrival of competitors means five years of hard work will be paying off. "Really, it's about two-thirds of the size of the '88 Olympics if you look at the number of competitors. We have 40,000 hotel room nights booked, we have delegates from around the world, 51 countries, 900 competitors coming here and they're the best in the world," says Richard Walker.
Four of the competitors from Turkey have arrived in town after competing nationally, and in Europe, to qualify for the international event. "I'm excited and we are waiting for the competition because it will be much more enjoyable then," says Omur Varol.
John Twohig is part of Ireland's delegation. He's been at every WorldSkills competition since 1997 and he competed in the 1975 version of the event.
"There's a whole range of competitions that you'd never think there could be a competition in that. And they're very visual and there's a lot of action happening....so if you cone on day one you will definitely come for a return visit because you will get hooked on the competitions," says Twohig.
WorldSkills 2009 kicks off on September 1st with the opening ceremonies; competition will begin on September 2nd.
For more information, click on the WorldSkills 2009 link to the right.
