Meet Elizabeth Brown, the 22-year-old Missouri chef who earned a WorldSkills Medal for Excellence in Shanghai; she was one of 18 competitors worldwide to receive the distinction in cooking after competing among 45 finalists

The 48th WorldSkills Competition took place in Shanghai recently, where nine US competitors from the SkillsUSA team showcased their skills against the best of the best from across the world from September 22-27, 2026. Among them was Elizabeth Brown, a 22-year-old cooking competitor from Missouri who won the competition. Brown showcased world-class culinary technique, speed and artistic precision and earned the designation among 18 other competitors in the 45-person field. Brown’s WorldSkills appearance was supported by Unilever, ZWILLING and Smithfield Foods.Brown is a native of Columbia and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She is the SkillsUSA Missouri high school state champion in culinary arts and the silver medallist at the 2023 national SkillsUSA Championships. “My experience with SkillsUSA has ingrained qualities needed for me to thrive in my industry,” Brown said before the competition. “I have been taught organisation, time management and work ethic, all backed by passion.”“This competition means that I have the potential to stand amongst some of each country’s best and could be a turning point for creating a successful name for myself, as well as growing myself personally as a disciplined, hardworking and passionate individual,” she said. “I have worked hard to get here and will continue doing so to prove that I should be in this spot.”As a child curious about what her mother was cooking in their kitchen to work as a private chef and sustainable line cook, Brown said that cooking has always been a constant in her life and a source of confidence and strength. For the competition, her expert was Chef Greg Beachey, a 40-year veteran of the food service industry from Colorado. Beachey has managed and overseen the SkillsUSA national culinary competition for more than a decade, allowing him to connect not only with the top young culinarians in the country, but also with the top educators and leading culinary professionals nationwide.Apart from Brown, other US competitors also gained titles and fame in their fields. Mikala Sposito, 21 and a welding champion, earned a bronze medal in the Welding category and is the first female to have represented the country in this skill competition.Two members of the U.S. delegation also won a Medal for Excellence, an official distinction awarded to competitors who achieve a high standard of skills and score 700 points or more on the official WorldSkills scoring scale. Charles Goede, a 20-year-old from Connecticut, also earned the Medal for Excellence designation for his performance in the Plumbing and Heating competition.James Cahill, a 20-year-old from Missouri, won in automobile technology; Tristan Coates, a 22-year-old from Florida, won in carpentry; Alexis Squyres, a 21-year-old from Pennsylvania, won in CNC Milling; Benjamin Strupp, a 21-year-old from Wisconsin, won in Heavy Vehicle Technology while Evan Chow and James Sutherland, 24-year-olds from Tennessee, won in Mechatronics.Held every two years, the WorldSkills Competition is the world’s largest international gathering of skilled talent. About 1,400 competitors from 73 countries and regions competed in 64 skills, including seven new emerging occupations. SkillsUSA, the #1 workforce development organisation for students, has served as the official U.S. representative to WorldSkills since 1973, with the first U.S. delegation competing in 1975. More than 300 Americans have competed at WorldSkills.Ensuring peak performance in Shanghai, each team member was supported by business and industry partners and paired with a dedicated technical expert who planned and managed their training regimen. Competitors engaged in virtual training sessions and intensive in-person practices across the United States, Europe and Asia to refine their skills to world-class standards.