Catharina Choi Nunes (born 24 January 1990), also known by her Korean name Choi Song-ee (; also

romanised Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

as Choi Song-yi), is a South Korean and Brazilian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned both Miss Earth Korea 2013 and Miss Brazil World 2015. She represented Korea at

Miss Earth 2013 Miss Earth 2013, the 13th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, was held on December 7, 2013 at the Versailles Palace in Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines. Tereza Fajksová of the Czech Republic crowned her successor Alyz Henrich of Venezuela ...

, placing as the third runner-up, and Brazil at

Miss World 2015 Miss World 2015, the 65th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 19 December 2015 at the outdoor arena of the Crown of Beauty Theatre in Sanya, China. 114 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown. Rolene Strauss of S ...

, placing in the top twenty.

Early life

Nunes was born and raised in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Brazil. Her parents are both from Brazil. Choi's mother is of Korean descent while her father is of Portuguese and Spanish descent. Her parents separated when she was young, and Nunes lived with her mother in Brazil when she was between 8 and 13 years old.

Pageantry

Miss Korea Brazil 2013

Catharina joined the Miss Korea Brazil 2013 pageant where she was declared as first runner-up. However, the winner, Jung Eun-ju, was dethroned. Catharina took over the place and becomes Miss Korea Brazil 2013. Catharina got her chance to compete Miss Korea 2013.

Miss Korea 2013

Catharina joined the Miss Korea 2013 pageant where she was declared as one of the second runners up winners. She was not originally part of the second runners up but the Miss Korea Organization decided to take another place for the 'overseas' candidates. Catharina, being Miss Korea Brazil 2013, filled that position.

Miss Earth 2013

Catharina replaced Kim Hyo-hee to be the Miss Earth Korea 2013 titleholder. She then flew to the Philippines to compete where she was hailed as Miss Earth 2013 - Fire. Catharina becomes the first Korean to get an elemental title and Asian delegate to snatch the Miss Earth - Fire title. As a Miss Earth delegate, an environmental advocacy is a must. Based from Miss Earth's website, Catharina's platform for the environment is the cleanup of plastic wastes in the ocean. She explained that because of these wastes, not only the marine animals are being affected by plastics but also because of its "

microplastics Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than in length, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Chemicals Agency. They cause pollution by entering natural ecosystems from a v ...

that are blocking the sun from reaching the planktons and algae, hurting the whole

marine food web Compared to terrestrial environments, marine environments have biomass pyramids which are inverted at the base. In particular, the biomass of consumers (copepods, krill, shrimp, forage fish) is larger than the biomass of primary producers. Th ...

." During the entire preliminary activities of Miss Earth, Catharina was able to get a silver medal for the "I Love My Planet Schools Campaign". During the coronation night of Miss Earth 2013, Catharina emerged as the Miss Earth - Fire or equivalent to third runner up. Miss Earth 2013 was won by

Alyz Henrich Alyz Sabimar Henrich Ocando (born October 19, 1991) is a Venezuelan model, environmentalist, humanitarian advocate and beauty queen. She represented Falcón state at Miss Venezuela 2012 pageant where she was crowned Miss Venezuela Earth. On ...

of Venezuela.

Miss World Brazil 2015

Catharina joined the Miss World Brazil pageant in 2015. She was proclaimed as the first runner up. However, the original winner was revealed to be married to a Belgian national. Catharina took over the place and became the new Miss World Brazil 2015.

Miss World Brazil 2022

She represented Brazil at the

pageant. At the Miss World, she placed in Top 20 and won the Queen of America's title.

Personal life

She holds a black belt in

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

and was elected a

Goodwill Ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a publ ...

by the

World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The ''World Taekwo ...

in 2015, as well as performing a

Poomsae The Korean terms hyeong, pumsae, poomsae and teul (meaning "form" or "pattern") are all used to refer to martial arts forms that are typically used in Korean martial arts such as Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do. * Hyeong is often romanized as ''h ...

demonstration at the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

.MasTKD.com: Miss Mundo Brasil es la nueva embajadora de la WTF
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References

External links

Miss Earth Korea 2013 Eco-Beauty Video

Catharina at Miss Earth official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi Nunes, Catharina 1990 births Brazilian female models Brazilian female taekwondo practitioners Living people Miss Earth 2013 contestants Miss Korea delegates Miss World 2015 delegates Models from Seoul South Korean female models South Korean female taekwondo practitioners South Korean people of Brazilian descent People from São Paulo