PHOTOS: Belarussian Student Becomes First-Ever Miss Wheelchair World

23-year-old Aleksandra Chichikova who said “Fight your anxiety and your fears,” at first ever Miss Wheelchair World gala evening, after the contestants had presented themselves in national costumes and evening dresses in elaborate choreographies, has been crowned winner of the beauty pageant held in Warsaw on Saturday.

The psychology student from Belarus, won the competition whose goal is to “change the image of women in wheelchairs so they would not be judged solely by this attribute,” as disclosed by the contest co-founder and jury president Katarzyna Wojtaszek-Ginalska.


The contest which is first of its kind on a global scale, brought together 24 young women from 19 countries (Angola, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Guatemala, India, Italy, Mexico, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine and the United States), with Lebohang Monyatsi from South Africa as the runner-up ahead of Poland’s Adrianna Zawadzinska.
“It is not the looks that matter the most,” said Wojtaszek-Ginalska, who is also confined to a wheelchair. “Of course, a good look counts but we have focused especially on the personality of the girls, their everyday activities, their involvement, social life, plans.”
Here are more photos below;