Besting 111 of her fellow titleholders from across the globe, Krystyna Pyszková of the Czech Republic was crowned Miss World 2024 on Saturday in Mumbai, India, where the international pageant was held this year.
Across a series of events during the pageant’s preliminary competition, including fitness, beauty, talent and public speaking, several contestants won “fast track” places in the top 40, a cohort announced at the start of the show.
From there, the field was quickly slashed to top 12 and then top eight, at which point the contestants participated in the classic Q&A round, addressing topics discussed at the most recent G20 Summit. Asked to shed light on an issue impacting women’s health care specifically, Pyszková, 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” and that periods should not be a taboo subject.
After one final cut, four contestants were left to “pitch their purpose” (or philanthropic platform) to a trio of business moguls from “Shark Tank India.” Each of these four finalists represented a different region of the world: Africa, the Americas and Caribbean, Asia and Oceania and Europe.
Pyszková’s victory came over these three runners-up — Yasmina Zeytoun of Lebanon, Aché Abrahams of Trinidad and Tobago and Lesego Chombo of Botswana. (These women, along with Jessica Gagen of England, are considered the pageant’s “continental winners.”)
Miss World is widely viewed as the oldest international beauty pageant, first founded in the United Kingdom in 1951 as a “bikini contest.” Perhaps its two best-known winners are both from India: the actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Miss World 1994) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Miss World 2000). Chopra Jonas appeared at the pageant in a video message, paying tribute to both Miss World owner Julia Morley and Nita Ambani, winner of the pageant’s Humanitarian Award.
Pyszková replaces the outgoing Miss World, Karolina Bielawska, of Poland, whose reign dates back to March 2022. (Due to scheduling issues, no Miss World pageant was held in 2023.)