Miss World 2021 is Karolina Bielawska from Poland, India's Manasa Varanasi in top 13

The Miss World 2021 pageant was held in Puerto Rico.

Karolina Bielawska from Poland has been crowned Miss World 2021, beating contestants from other countries in the pageant held in Puerto Rico. India’s Manasa Varanasi made it to the list of top 13 contestants.

While Indian-origin Shree Saini from the United States was declared the first runner up, the second runner up is Olivia Yace from Côte d’Ivoire.

The pageant was postponed in December last year after several contestants, including Manasa Varanasi, tested positive for coronavirus.

The Miss World pageant and India’s contestant making it to the top 13 list comes over three months after India’s Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu bagged the Miss Universe 2021 title, 21 years after India brought home the crown.

What also caught the world’s attention at the pageant was the show of support for war-torn Ukraine. Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh, the 2019 Miss World title holder, sang “The Prayer”, the moving, multi-award-winning 1999 song by Canadian singer Celine Dion and Italian instrumentalist Andrea Bocelli. Contestants on stage and members of the audience held up candles as Singh performed her rendition of the song.

“Our current Miss World Toni-Ann Singh performs The Prayer as we light candles around the world to stand with Ukraine,” the pageant said in a tweet. “Not a dry eye in the arena.”