60-Year-Old Pageant Winner Won't Advance to Miss Universe After Losing Argentina Crown but Says 'Change Is Coming'

"It was an adventure," Alejandra Rodriguez said

Alejandra Rodriguez, a 60-year-old beauty queen who was competing for the title of Miss Argentina in the Miss Universe pageant, saw her historic journey end on Saturday, May 25, when she didn't secure the top spot.

Though Rodriguez, who is also a lawyer and a journalist, didn’t take home the crown that would have let her represent her country in the international pageant, she did win the “best face” category, according to the Associated Press.

She also remains optimistic that her success so far, and her message, are resonating.

"This is the first step of a change that is coming," she told CNN.

Rodriguez said her own headline-making pageant career has opened the door for others.

“As a result of what happened to me, I believe a new door has opened for many people who perhaps did not have it easy,” she told the AP.

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“It was an adventure and I had no expectations of this other than taking on a new challenge," she said.

Last month, Rodriguez won the Miss Buenos Aires pageant, becoming the first 60-year-old contestant to earn the title.

In the process, she beat out 34 others, who ranged in age from 18 to 73.

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“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 said after her win, touting her "confidence" and "passion to represent the women of my generation."

"I am the first of this generation to start with this," she said then.

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The Miss Universe Organization announced in September 2023 that it would no longer have age limits for pageant contestants — meaning that any woman over the age of 18 is eligible to compete.

The new guidelines are a stark change from the previous limit, requiring women to be ages 18-28.

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