Meet the 80-year-old Miss Universe Korea contestant proving age is just a number

After the Miss Universe pageant lifted its longstanding ban on women aged over 28, grandmother of three, Choi Soon-hwa, decided she wanted to “give it a try.”

Born almost a decade before the first Miss Universe contest was held in 1952, 80-year-old Choi Soon-hwa could now make history as the pageant’s oldest ever participant. Earlier this month, she was unveiled as a finalist in the annual Miss Universe Korea competition. On Monday, Choi will go head-to-head with 31 other contestants for the tiara — and a chance to represent South Korea at the Miss Universe final in Mexico this November. “I want to stun the world, like, ‘How is an 80-year-old lady so healthy? How did she maintain that body? What’s your diet?’” she told CNN on the phone ahead of the pageant. “When you get old, you gain weight… So, I want to show that we can live healthily even when we get old.” For decades, the Miss Universe Organization enforced strict age restrictions limiting participation to women aged 18 to 28. But from 2024, amid growing calls to modernize, the upper age limit has been lifted. Last year, the organization also updated eligibility criteria to remove a longstanding ban on pregnant women or mothers, and women who were — or ever had been — married. National-level Miss Universe pageants, although not all directly administered by the Miss Universe Organization, were obliged to follow suit. This year, 58-year-old Lorraine Peters and 60-year-old Alejandra Marisa Rodríguez took part in Miss Universe Canada and Miss Universe Argentina, respectively, though neither advanced to November’s final. “Now that the age restriction has been lifted, I said, ‘I should give it a try,’” Choi said, adding: “Whether I get through or not, I was determined to try and get this opportunity.”