Though pageantry is often touted as a delicate pursuit, on Saturday the 16 contestants vying for the title of Miss Jamaica World 2024 put that stereotype to bed as they underwent their fitness challenge.
Parading around the Emancipation Park in the early hours of the morning in their red, blue, green and yellow Jamaica Moves T-shirts, the ladies were put through a set of challenges to test their physical readiness for the title of Miss Jamaica World.
Commenting on the importance of the challenge on behalf of the pageant’s official fitness sponsor – the Ministry of Health and Wellness/Jamaica Moves – Travane Morrison, national physical activity specialist at the Ministry of Health and Wellness told The Gleaner, “If you follow their Instagram page and you see the amount of activities that the reigning Miss Jamaica World, Shanique Singh, had to do, she’s all over. She’s all over the world, all over the country making appearances. It might seem simple to the untrained eye, but it takes a lot, so you have to have a level of fitness to manage that gruelling schedule.”
Leading the day’s activities, Morrison shared, “To wheel it out we had a relay, just for fun and to see what the ladies can do.” They then launched into a mixed medley of planks, push-ups, squats and burpees.
“Those would tell us the fitness level of the different ladies and the judges came together [after] and selected the top performers from each of the groups. That brought it down to the top six. For the top six, we had another mixed medley which entails a sprint, a bunny-hop, bear crawls and also side-shuttles, which brought us down to the top three. Then they did suicides which we call shuttle runs.”
Coming out on top, 18-year-old Kingstonian Chri-Shann Grant was named the winner.
Though making note of her background in fitness, she said she is unsure what gave her the leg up on her competitors.
“I can’t say enuh, because I really came [in feeling]intimidated. All these other girls are more experienced, they’ve done this challenge before more than likely. But I feel like it was just my perseverance coming out from the beginning. I was determined to try my best and that’s what I did.”
She continued, “Well I have some experience with fitness. I did track in high school for Holy Childhood High School. I’ve been doing dance and gymnastics and cheer for most of my life so I feel like I have a bit of experience there.”
Following Grant in second and third positions, respectively, were last year’s fitness challenge winner Tahje Bennett, and Lianne Fullwood.
Congratulating Grant on her win, Morrison shared, “I was a part of the last Miss Jamaica World and this overall is a very fit group so bringing it down to a top six was very difficult. For one, there were a lot of ladies from the group that we could’ve [chosen] to bring into the top six but for Chri-Shann, for her to win with this group of top-level fit ladies is pretty good.”
Grant, who has secured an automatic spot in the Top 10 of the competition, says as she fights the urge to be intimidated by the age and experience of her contemporaries, she aims to meet the rest of the challenges in the competition with similar gusto.
“Each challenge comes with its own challenges, of course, and it’s just having the know-how to navigate each individual experience. Each competition that comes my way, I’m gonna approach it differently.”
The Miss Jamaica World fitness challenge was part of a weekend of high-energy fast track events, including the Mr World Jamaica Extreme Sports Challenge. The Mr World Jamaica contestants took centre stage on Sunday morning with the AHF Jamaica-sponsored extreme sports challenge at Hope Gardens. The event tested their strength, agility, and endurance. Tarique Brown emerged as the top contender, with Gladstone Johnson and Tavar Brown rounding out the top three.
