Miss Myanmar cries after 3rd place finish at Miss Grand International 2024; sash, crown removed by pageant director
Myanmar's Thae Su Nyeim is making the rounds online after being seen sobbing as her country's pageant director aggressively removed her sash and crown after her second runner-up finish at Miss Grand International 2024.
In a now-viral clip posted by global pageant platform Missosology on Facebook, Thae was getting off the stage after India's Rachel Gupta was crowned as the winner when Myanmar national director Htoo Ant Lwin stripped off her crown and sash in a forceful manner.
She was then shown crying and in distress as she was being guided by her team members away.
When Htoo noticed that he was being filmed while assisting a still crying Thae, he angrily pointed and shouted at the person taking a video of them.
Htoo further caused a stir online when he posted the status "bye forever" on Facebook before going live on his Instagram page to declare that Myanmar will no longer be sending candidates to compete in future Miss Grand International tilts.
The incident garnered mixed reactions from the public, with some criticizing Htoo for his behavior after the announcement of the winners.
"Such behavior is completely inappropriate and shows a lack of respect for the hosts and the competition. Regardless of the outcome, professionalism and dignity should come first. This kind of reaction only poorly on the organization and its values. If you can't accept the results with grace, maybe you shouldn't be in the position to represent anyone at all," one user said in the comments.
Another one said, "We admire your dedication to winning the crown, and we know how much you and your queen put and effort in this competition. But the reality is, only one person can hold the crown, and there is someone this year who deserves it even more."
Thae briefly talked about her Miss Grand International performance in a Facebook post.
"Even though I tried my best, because it didn't go as expected. I hereby apologize to everyone," she said in a Facebook post, which was also shared by Htoo.
Thae received words of encouragement from Miss Grand Myanmar. "We will always remember your time and effort. We encouraged, we supported you, and you tried your best. You are the most worthy of everything," the pageant organization wrote in a Facebook post.
Miss Grand International has yet to address the matter.
The 12th edition of the pageant ended with Rachel taking over the reign of Luciana Fuster Guzmán of Peru and CJ Opieza from the Philippines being named as first runner-up. After Thae came France's Safiétou Kabengele in fourth place and Brazil's Talita Hartmann in fifth place.