CNN
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On Saturday, Krystyna Pišková of the Czech Republic was crowned Miss World 2024, beating out 111 title holders from around the world at this year's international pageant in Mumbai, India.
The contest's qualifying competition saw several contestants earn “fast track” positions within the top 40 announced at the beginning of the show through a series of events including fitness, beauty, talent and speech.
Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
New Miss World Kristyna Piszkova models at the “Best Designer Award” contest at the 71st Miss World Preliminaries held on March 2nd.
From there, the participants were quickly whittled down to the top 12 and then the top 8, at which point contestants took part in a classic Q&A round, covering topics discussed at the most recent G20 summit. Asked to shine a light on issues that specifically affect women's health care, Pishkova, a 23-year-old law student and model, spoke about removing the stigma and shame surrounding menstruation, saying that “being a woman is a gift.” Yes, he said, and that's how menstruation should be. Don't let it become a taboo topic.
After the final cut was made, the four contestants were tasked with “pitching their cause (or philanthropic platform)” to three business tycoons from “Shark Tank India.” Each of these four finalists represents a different region of the world: Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean, Asia and Oceania, and Europe.
Pishkova's victory beat out three runners-up: Yasmina Zeitoun of Lebanon, Ashe Abrahams of Trinidad and Tobago and Lesego Chombo of Botswana. (These women, along with Britain's Jessica Gegen, are considered the contest's “continental winners.”)
Miss World is widely regarded as the oldest international beauty pageant, having first been founded in the United Kingdom in 1951 as a “bikini contest.” Perhaps two of the most famous winners are actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Miss World 1994) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Miss World 2000), both of Indian origin. Chopra Jonas appeared at the pageant in a video message, paying tribute to Miss World owner Julia Morley and the pageant's humanitarian award winner Nita Ambani.
Piszkova will replace the outgoing Miss World, Poland's Karolina Bielawska. Her reign dates back to March 2022 (due to scheduling issues, the Miss World pageant was not held in 2023).
