The Brazilian at Miss World is a former basketball player who played in the United States

Brazil represented at the Miss World contest, which will be held on Wednesday (16), in Puerto Rico, the fate of Caroline Teixeira could have been completely different. She was a player Basketball I came to work in the United States.

Born in the Federal District, the 24-year-old Caroline has had an impressive career as a teenage basketball player and, in 2015, was the top scorer of the Brazilian Under-17 Baseball Championship, with 108 points.

Because of this sport, she moved to Jundiaí, in the interior of Sao Paulo, at the age of fourteen, and three years later, she was invited to play basketball and study in Rayleigh, North Carolina.

“Basketball has provided me with rewarding experiences. It has been a learning experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. […]. Women’s basketball in the United States is very popular, especially in North Carolina, where it is played. There we had tournaments every weekend, as well as state tournaments. In terms of training and the basics, Brazilian women’s basketball does not disappoint, we have excellent physical preparation and a distinguished way of playing, with a lot of race and determination”, she explained in an interview with the Federal Basketball Federation, after her election. Miss Brasilia 2020.

She said she returned to Brazil in June 2015 to study law. “It was time to choose my future career and I decided, on that occasion, not to pursue my career as a professional basketball player.” Now she dreams of becoming a public prosecutor.

But this does not mean that sports are not in her life to this day. She often posts pictures on Instagram as a street race post.

fight cancer

In 2018, during a routine checkup, Caroline discovered thyroid cancer. In an interview with Metrópoles, in August 2021, shortly before the model won the Miss Brazil title, her mother, Aline Gomez, said that the discovery of the disease prompted her daughter to pursue her dreams. “She was about to run a marathon when she was diagnosed. She underwent surgery and radiotherapy and came out of the hospital stronger.”

The 70th edition of the Miss World contest in 2020 has been postponed due to the pandemic. The current owner of the crown is Jamaican Toni Ann Singh, 2019 winner.

If she wins this edition, Caroline will be the first Brazilian to emerge victorious from the competition since the conquest of Lucia Petrell, in 1971.