British Virgin Islands has created history as it has entered the Top 40 spot in Miss World for the first time ever. Rikkiya Brathwaite Miss British Virgin Islands 2019 won the Top Sports woman award at the Sports Challenge held on 28th November 2019.
Rikkiya Brathwaite emerged victorious beating other delegates and won the title of Miss World 2019 Top Sports Woman. The day of the Sports Challenge is called the Miss World’s International Sports Day, and the competition features various gruelling physical activities which tests the strength and determination of the delegates.
Along with Rikkiya, Nyekachi Douglas Miss World Nigeria 2019 was awarded the second position while Tya Janè Ramey Miss World Trinidad & Tobago 2019 was awarded the third position at the Sports Challenge.
Making the Green Team victorious, Rikkiya beat over thirty delegates to claim this winning title. The delegates were put in four team – Green, Red, Blue and Yellow as they competed against each other. In order to qualify for the Sports Challenge and take the privilege of representing their team, the contestants had to participate in the dreaded Bleep test. The bleep test is a multi-stage fitness test in which the contestants complete 20-meter shuttle runs in time with the bleeps until the bleeps get too quick for them.
Winning the first spot in Top 40 for Miss World 2019 crown, Rikkiya exclaimed, “I’m honestly very overwhelmed. I’m not an athlete by any means! I gave up track and field at the age of seven for ballet shoes and a stage, but I come from a very athletic family so it must still be somewhere in my DNA. I am just truly grateful to come from a Territory with a competitive heart when it comes to sports.”