Alma Andrea Meza Carmona (born 13 August 1994) is a Mexican model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Universe 2020 Miss Universe 2020 was the 69th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, United States on May 16, 2021. At the end of the event, Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa crowned Andrea Meza of Mexico ...

. Since winning the title, she became the third Mexican woman to be crowned Miss Universe. Meza holds the record of the shortest completed reign in Miss Universe history to date. She had previously been crowned

Mexicana Universal 2020 Mexicana Universal 2020 was the 3rd edition of the Mexicana Universal beauty pageant held on November 29, 2020. 30 candidates from all over Mexico competed for the national title. Claudia Lozano of Nuevo León crowned Andrea Meza of Chihuahua at th ...

and Miss Mexico 2017, and placed as the first runner-up at

Miss World 2017 Miss World 2017, the 67th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 18 November 2017 at the Sanya City Arena in China. 118 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown. Stephanie Del Valle of Puerto Rico crowned her success ...

Early life and education

Meza was born on 13 August 1994 in

Chihuahua City The city of Chihuahua ''(La Ciudad de Chihuahua)'' () is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. , the city of Chihuahua had a population of 925,762 inhabitants. while the metropolitan area had a population of 988,065 inhabitants. Am ...

to parents Alma Carmona and Santiago Meza. She grew up in Chihuahua City as the eldest of three daughters, and is of partial Chinese descent. After completing secondary school, Meza enrolled in the

Autonomous University of Chihuahua , mottoeng = Strive to achieve, achieve to give , established = 8 December 1954 , type = Public university , rector = Heliodoro Araiza Reyes (Interino) , faculty = , staff = , ...

, where she studied

software engineering Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...

. She graduated with her degree in 2017, and subsequently began working in Mexico as a software engineer in addition to her career as a model.

Pageantry

Miss Mexico 2017

Meza began her pageantry career in 2016, after she was selected to represent Chihuahua at Miss World Mexico 2016. This was the first edition of the pageant after the

Nuestra Belleza México Mexicana Universal is a national beauty pageant in Mexico held annually since 2018, replacing the former pageant, Nuestra Belleza México, held since 1994. Currently, the pageant is responsible for selecting the country’s delegates to Miss U ...

competition lost its license for

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...

. In the pageant, Meza advanced to the top sixteen, then the top ten, and ultimately the top five. After reaching the top five, Meza was one of the two contestants awarded a crown, being crowned as Miss Mexico 2017. Ana Girault, representing

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, was crowned Miss Mexico 2016 and given the opportunity to represent Mexico at

Miss World 2016 Miss World 2016, the 66th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on December 18, 2016 at the MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland, United States. 117 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown. Mireia Lalaguna of Spai ...

, while Meza was given the opportunity to represent Mexico at Miss World 2017. Also, Meza won the sports challenge at the competition.

Miss World 2017

Miss World and Continental Queens 2017 with Miss Indonesia 2017 visited National Museum of Indonesia

As the winner of Miss Mexico 2017, Meza represented Mexico at the 67th edition of Miss World 2017, held on 18 November 2017 at Sanya City Arena in

Sanya Sanya (; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants, li ...

, China. In the pre-pageant activities, Meza won group sixteen of the Head-to-Head Challenge, which gave her direct entry into the top forty. Additionally, she placed as the fourth runner-up in the talent competition. During the finals of the competition, Meza advanced from the top forty into the top fifteen, top ten, and top five. After reaching the top five,

Julia Morley Julia Evelyn Morley (née Pritchard; born 25 October 1939) is a British businesswoman, charity worker, and former model. She is the chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organization, which organizes the Miss World and Mister World. She is the w ...

announced Meza as the first runner-up behind the winner,

Manushi Chhillar Manushi Chhillar (born 14 May 1997) is an Indian actress and model, who was the winner of the Miss World 2017 pageant. She represented her state of Haryana at the Femina Miss India 2017 pageant, which she won, and went on to become the sixth r ...

from India. In addition to her first runner-up finish, Meza was additionally crowned Miss World Americas, placing her within the 2017 Miss World Continental Queens of Beauty.

Mexicana Universal 2020

In 2020, Meza was crowned Mexicana Universal Chihuahua 2020, allowing her to represent Chihuahua at

. During pre-pageant activities, Meza won six challenges, including the sports challenge. The final was held on 29 November 2020 in Querétaro City. Meza advanced to the top fifteen and top ten, ultimately being crowned Mexicana Universal 2020.

Miss Universe 2020

As Mexicana Universal, Meza represented Mexico at the

pageant. The final of the competition was held on May 16, 2021, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

, after being postponed from late 2020 to May 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Meza advanced from the initial pool of 74 contestants to the top 21, then the top ten, and finally the top five, where she was crowned the winner by the outgoing titleholder

Zozibini Tunzi Zozibini Tunzi (born 18 September 1993), also known as Zozi Tunzi, is a South African model, actress and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe 2019. Tunzi had previously been crowned Miss South Africa 2019. She is the third ...

of South Africa. Following her win, she became the third Mexican woman to win the crown, following

Lupita Jones María de Guadalupe "Lupita" Jones Garay (, ; born 6 September 1967) is a Mexican television producer, model, actress, and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1991. She was the first Mexican contestant to win the crown. Since 1994, Jones ...

in 1991 and

Ximena Navarrete Jimena "Ximena" Navarrete Rosete (born February 22, 1988) is a Mexican actress, TV host, model and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 2010. She was previously named as Nuestra Belleza México 2009. She is the second Miss Universe from Mexico. ...

in 2010. With Meza's victory at Miss Universe 2020, this marked Mexico's second consecutive year in the top 3 after Sofía Aragón,

Mexicana Universal 2019 Mexicana Universal 2019 was the second edition of the Mexicana Universal beauty pageant, formerly called Nuestra Belleza Mexico until 2017. Andrea Toscano of Colima crowned her successor Sofía Aragón of Jalisco at the end of the event. Later, ...

, finished as the second runner-up at

Miss Universe 2019 Miss Universe 2019 was the 68th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Stage 1 of the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on 8 December 2019. At the end of the event, Catriona Gray of the Philippines crowned Zozibini Tunzi of S ...

. Meza also surpassed

Brook Lee Brook Antoinette Mahealani Lee (born January 8, 1971) is an American former beauty queen who was crowned Miss Hawaii USA 1997, Miss USA 1997, and Miss Universe 1997. Lee is the first native Hawaiian to win the title of Miss Universe. Early lif ...

's record of being the oldest to win Miss Universe by winning at the age of 26 years and 276 days. After winning Miss Universe, Meza was succeeded as Mexicana Universal by Débora Hallal, who was appointed Mexicana Universal 2021. On December 13, 2021, Meza crowned

Harnaaz Sandhu Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu (born 3 March 2000) is an Indian model, actress, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe 2021. Sandhu had been previously crowned Miss Diva Universe 2021, and is the third entrant from India to win Miss ...

of India as her successor, marking the end of the shortest completed reign in Miss Universe history of 211 days.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meza, Andrea 1994 births Autonomous University of Chihuahua alumni Living people Mexican beauty pageant winners Mexican female models Mexicana Universal winners Miss Universe winners Miss Universe 2020 contestants Miss World 2017 delegates People from Chihuahua City Software engineers