Miss Earth 2021 Destiny Wagner, right, passes the crown to Miss South Korea Mina Sue Choi after being crowned as Miss Earth 2022 during the 22nd Miss Earth pageant in Manila, in the Philippines.
Mina Sue Choi of Korea bested over 80 other competitors to win Miss Earth 2022 in a glittering competition held on Tuesday, November 29 at Cove Manila, Okada Manila in the Philippines.
The 24-year-old communication student succeeded Destiny Wagner of Belize and became her country’s first-ever Miss Earth winner. She also bagged three gold medals for the swimsuit, beach wear, and long gown competition, and one bronze for resort wear.
Australia’s Sheridan Mortlock, Palestine’s Nadeen Ayoub, and Colombia’s Andrea Aguilera finished in the Top 4 and were awarded the elemental titles Miss Earth – Air, Water, and Fire, respectively.
The Top 8 were Daphné Nivelles of Belgium, Merel Hendriksen of the Netherlands, Paulina Avilés of Puerto Rico, and Sakhile Dube of Zimbabwe while Jéssica Pedroso of Brazil, Sheyla Ravelo of Cuba, Esther Ajayi of Nigeria and Maria Rosado of Portugal were the rest of the Top 12.
Rounding out the Top 20 were Anežka Heralecká of the Czech Republic, Hiwot Kassa of Ethiopia, Alannah Larkin of Ireland, Diana Andimba of Namibia, Lilly Sødal of Norway, Jenny Ramp of the Philippines, Lea Prstec of Slovenia, and Thach Thu Thao of Vietnam.
This year’s competition themed “ME Loves Fauna” marked the 22nd edition of the Miss Earth pageant and was held following two virtual editions in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show was hosted by TV host and automotive journalist James Deakin with former Miss Earth winners Angelia Ong, Karen Ibasco, and Nellys Pimentel as co-hosts.
Born in Sydney, Australia, the new Miss Earth also spent her childhood living in Canada, the United States, China, and Korea. “This pattern of residing in unfamiliar places, adapting, then finding yet another new place has impacted me as a person today and most likely will impact the future versions of myself as a global woman of this era,” she said in her bio for Miss Earth.
The advocate of carbon footprint reduction and eco-friendly lifestyles is proud of her roots and she described Koreans as challengers and hard workers. She said: “We always challenge ourselves, sometimes critique ourselves, but to always better ourselves. I love that the people of our country are proud to be Korean wherever we are. I am thrilled to live in the moments where everyone will recognize our people, our culture, and our country, Korea.”