SALT LAKE CITY — Over the weekend, Utah State University Eastern student Wyatt Hansen earned a bronze medal in welding at the WorldSkills competition in Lyon, France. This comes just after he took first place at the National SkillsUSA competition in Atlanta, Georgia in March.
“The cool thing about doing really good and being successful is that it makes people more aware,” Hansen said. “A lot of people… I don’t think they really have an idea what I’m actually doing.”
Hansen said when he got to France, he only had a few hours to get used to their equipment.
“The welder is different. The gas, everything is slightly different. It could be the same machine and allegedly the same gas and whatnot, but it’s not ever really going to be the same as it would be here in Utah.”
To prepare for this competition, Hansen has been training for 14 to 15 hours a day the past few years.
“[When you] really want something, you know, you got to work for it, and I’m willing to work for it and train that many hours to accomplish my goal.”
Hansen competed against 38 other welders from all over the world in the three-day competition. He said he hopes his success will open the door for other young students of the trades.
“Obviously, I’m going to try to do the best that I can if I can help, you know, future competitors do better and have less of the financial burden.”
Hansen started competing in welding competitions a few years ago because of a fellow Utah State Eastern student who had just finished competing in Dubai. He said he’s very proud and honored to represent the United States. He also expressed his gratitude to all his supporters, sponsors, experts, and instructors.
Hansen won the bronze medal along with the competitors from Canada and Australia. A Chinese competitor won silver, and the representative from Korea took the gold. Over 75,000 students from around the world competed in more than 60 different trade skills during the three-day competition.
