WorldSkills Flag wraps its global tour

It’s been all over the world and even out of this world. Now, following a ceremony in Chinese Taipei on 6 August, the international leg of the WorldSkills Flag Relay has been completed. The flag is now returning to Russia, where it will be 'guest of honour' at the Opening Ceremony of the WorldSkills Russia National Competition at Sakhalin Island in the far east of the country.

By the time it has completed the journey to Kazan next August, the WorldSkills Flag will have made the equivalent of nearly three trips around the globe.

After the official handover at the Closing Ceremony for WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, the Flag travelled to Sochi in Russia, with Olga Golodets, the then Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Chairperson of the Organizing Committee. She promised “Real Russian hospitality,” adding “together we will inspire a generation, developing quality of labour and quality of life for all.”

But before it could begin its terrestrial adventure, the Flag Relay had to make a slight detour - straight up for 400 kilometres to the International Space Station.

On 17 December 2017, the Flag joined the crew of a Soyuz space craft as it blasted into orbit from the famous Baikonur Cosmodrome.