Miss International Jasmin Selberg takes questions from members of the media after her coronation./ARMIN P. ADINA
TOKYO, Japan — When Jasmin Selberg captured the Miss International crown in the pageant’s 60th edition, she also broke a 33-year title drought for her country Germany in the global tilt.
“This is a great honor to me. I’m a history student, so I’m happy if I can write history myself,” she told members of the media from Japan and overseas after her coronation at the Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 13.
“I still cannot believe it, to be honest. I feel really shy. Germany hasn’t won in thousands of years, basically, or ever placed,” continued Selberg, who won for her country its third Miss International title 33 years after Iris Klein became the second German woman to capture the crown in 1989.
Klein’s victory came 25 years after Ingrid Finger won the Miss International crown in 1965 as the first winner from Germany.
Selberg, a student of both history and philosophy, bested 65 other international delegates for the title, including Binibining Pilipinas Hannah Arnold who finished in the Top 15.
The German beauty confessed she only had a few months to get ready for her third international competition. “I was actually crowned just in September, unlike other queens. So I had a lot to prepare by myself, and I’m actually proud that I made it,” Selberg shared.
She finished in the Top 15 of the 2021 Miss Globe contest, and also participated in the 2022 Miss Supranational pageant.
“I actually made my national costume myself, I started from scratch. It may not be the most beautiful thing that you have seen, but it is the most beautiful thing that I have created myself,” Selberg said. Her evening gown was made by Filipino designer Benj Leguiab.
As a pageant veteran, the German contender said she had to focus on her mental preparation for the Miss International pageant, “and started to be more happy than anxious.”
For winning in the 60th edition of the Miss International pageant, Selberg got to wear the new crown designed and manufactured by Vietnamese jeweler Long Beach Pearl. She received it from Sireethorh Leearamwat, the first winner from Thailand and the longest-reigning titleholder in the pageant’s history.
The Thai queen captured the crown in the pageant’s 59th edition mounted in 2019. Pageant organizer International Cultural Association (ICA) decided to cancel the staging in 2020 and 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Philippines will be represented by Bb. Pilipinas Nicole Borromeo in the 61st Miss International pageant next year. EDV