An Argentine woman who made headlines as the oldest winner of a regional beauty pageant at the age of 60 has been selected as the 'best face' at the Miss Universe Argentina competition.
On the 26th (local time), AP News, CNN, and others reported that Alejandra Rodriguez (60), who participated in the Miss Universe Argentina pageant held the previous day in Buenos Aires, Argentina, did not win the overall competition but received an award in the 'best face' category.
Rodriguez earned the right to compete on this stage after being crowned Miss Buenos Aires in the regional preliminaries of Miss Universe Argentina last April. She works as a lawyer and journalist, and her victory at age 60 attracted worldwide attention at the time.
Rodriguez was able to participate in this competition because the age limit criteria for the Miss Universe pageant were abolished. Since its inception in 1952, the Miss Universe pageant had restricted participants to those aged 18 to 28 and only allowed unmarried women without children to compete. However, the organizers removed these restrictions this year, allowing women of various ages to participate, enabling Rodriguez to compete and even win the regional contest.
Alejandra Rodriguez participated in the Argentina Miss Universe pageant held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the 25th (local time). Photo by AP Yonhap News
On the day of the event, Rodriguez competed against participants from across Argentina, beyond Buenos Aires, wearing a one-piece swimsuit and a red dress. However, her challenge to become the 'oldest ever' contestant in the Miss Universe pageant, where beauties representing their countries compete, ended disappointingly here. The Miss Argentina title, which grants eligibility to participate in the Miss Universe pageant, went to Magali Benejam (29), an actress and model from Cordoba.
Although Rodriguez was not selected as Argentina's representative beauty, she claimed the 'best face' title, one of the subcategories of the competition. After the event, Rodriguez told AP News, "I believe that what happened to me has opened new doors for many people," adding, "It was an adventure, and I had no particular expectations other than taking on a new challenge."
Following her win as Miss Buenos Aires, Rodriguez expressed, "I am happy to represent a new paradigm in beauty pageants," and said, "A new era is about to begin that represents not only women's physical beauty but also different values. I am the person who has crossed the starting line of this new era."
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