A lawyer in Argentina is ready to make her dreams come true as she edges closer to becoming the oldest contestant in Miss Universe history.
Previously, since the competition’s 1952 inception, the maximum age to enter was 28 and women had to be single with no children.
“I am thrilled to be representing this new paradigm in beauty pageants because we are inaugurating a new stage in which women are not only physical beauty but another set of values,” Rodriguez, who was a journalist before studying law and becoming a hospital’s legal advisor, said following her win.
“I am the first of this generation to start with this.”
She also chalked up her beauty to help from “genetics.”
Rodriguez isn’t the only one breaking ground as Haidy Cruz, a 47-year-old mother of two and health and fitness expert, is also in the running, but to represent the Dominican Republic.
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“Miss Universe, which promotes inclusion, offered me the chance to pursue my dream,” she said. “My inner voice urged me to go for it, to experience the journey instead of just hearing about it.”
The Miss Universe pageant is scheduled to take place in Mexico on Sept. 28, 2024.