A swashbuckling fencer has announced she is competing to become Miss Universe.
Ignacia Cifuentes turned heads at the 2023 Pan American Games where she represented her national fencing team.
The 23-year-old hopes to represent her country again – this time at Miss Universe in September this year.
READ MORE: Influencer learnt to love large face mole because it ‘makes her unique’
- Advertisement -
But first she has to win Chile’s national pageant in July after being announced as representative for Zapallar in the country’s Petorca Province.
She has vowed to “give the pageant my all”, as reported by What’s the Jam.
“I’m not just going to participate, I’m serious, like any sporting competition I’ve ever been to,” she said.
“I have no idea if it will be more difficult than a fencing contest because they are very different things.
“I don’t have any experience in modelling, not even photoshoots.
- Advertisement -
“I don’t even walk in heels because I’m very tall and I don’t need them – I will have to learn how to use them and parade around without falling over,” she joked.
“My family is always telling me to get involved in these types of events, but the truth is, I was never really interested.
Ignacia added: “I just felt it wasn’t my world.”
- Advertisement -
The fencer, who is studying medicine at university, explained: “It is not the environment I’m used to, which is mostly doctors and high-performance athletes.
“I used to think I didn’t really like beauty pageants because they focus on the physical.
“But it is also about things that are more relevant than that, and I am looking at it from another point of view.
“But I would never give up my career, my priorities still centre on finishing university, the same with fencing.
“I have been training twice a day for 11 years so it is impossible for me to leave the sport because of this.
“My day starts at 5.30am, I train at 6am, then I go to university before training again.
“I end up getting home around 11pm.
“But I’m used to this routine, juggling many things that take up a lot of my time.”
She added: “I’m a very organised person and it hasn’t affected me fitting in another activity.”
READ MORE: VIDEO: Fitness influencer flashes bare bum in the gym as leggings rip
