Elaine Kay Moll: I won more than just a crown

MISS Supranational 2012 3rd runner-up holds PDI mascot Guyito upon her arrival on Tuesday at Naia Terminal 1. photo:GRIG MONTEGRANDE

Elaine Kay Moll feels she has achieved more than just a third runner-up finish in the recent 2012 Miss Supranational pageant in Poland.

The 20-year-old said that, more importantly, she gave the Polish people and her fellow candidates a good impression of Filipinos.

Moll placed fourth in a field of over 50 international contestants in the Warsaw-based competition last Friday night (early Saturday morning, Manila time).

“I believe I was able to show them what Filipinos are like—that we’re nice and well-disciplined,”  she told the Inquirer at the VIP lounge of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport upon her arrival Tuesday afternoon.

“Some of the candidates didn’t care about others,” observed the 5-foot-10 beauty, “whereas Filipinos, often ask ‘Okay ka lang?’ even if we ourselves are not feeling fine.”

Moll said she also taught her fellow delegates some Filipino words.

Newfound popularity

The former varsity cager of the National University said the country’s “newfound popularity” could have helped her get noticed in the competition.

“When I arrived at the airport, the press people were already waiting for the candidate from the Philippines,” Moll related. “A lot [of people, including delegates from Denmark, Ecuador and Slovenia] said, ‘I know your country.’ They told me they wanted to visit the Philippines.”

She said she was confident that she’d make the cut because she gave it her best shot. “When they were announcing the Top 20, I was expecting to be called,” she revealed.

But making it to the Top 5 was a different story, Moll admitted.  “All the strong contenders were in the Top 20. The ones I thought formidable, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica, were still in the lineup. So I thought it would be a hard climb.”

When she was declared third runner-up, Moll said, she heaved a sigh of relief. “All the training paid off.”

Katsyariana Buraya from Belarus won the title. Thailand’s Nanthawan Wannachutha placed second, followed by Michaela Dihiova from Czech Republic. Ecuador’s Sulay Castillo rounded up the Top 5.

Well-prepared

Moll said she had only one month to train for the pageant. “[But] the Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI) was great; they prepared me enough.”

When Moll was proclaimed first runner-up in the 2012 Binibining Pilipinas pageant last April, being sent to an international competition was not part of her prize. But BPCI chair Stella Marquez-Araneta picked Moll when the Miss Supranational organizers asked the Philippines for a representative.

Moll is set to return to Poland to fulfill her duties as third runner-up. This means she will again have to put her studies on hold.

After fulfilling those duties, Moll is bent on finishing college. She has three semesters remaining to earn a degree in Business
Management.

“I’m planning to put up my own business after college, maybe in the food industry,” she  said.