Karen Gallman wins first Miss Intercontinental crown for PHL

Filipino-Australian beauty queen Karen Gallman on Saturday made history after winning the first Miss Intercontinental crown for the Philippines.

Karen, who has roots in Brisbane and Bohol, was crowned by Mexico's Veronica Salas Vallejo at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Look: Karen Gallman is crowned Miss Intercontinental 2018 pic.twitter.com/UXUUsDOCn4

— Jessica Bartolome (@jacbartolome) January 26, 2019

Costa Rica finished as the 1st runner-up followed by Slovak Republic at 2nd, Colombia 3rd, Vietnam 4th, and Ethiopia as 5th.

Karen Gallman's answer for #MissIntercontinental | @gmanews pic.twitter.com/c3v5ok5mua

— Aya Miura (@ayaruim) January 26, 2019

Delegates from Myanmar and Indonesia were given recognition by sponsors, while Argentina and Panama were awarded Miss Photogenic and Miss Congeniality respectively during the finals night.

This was the first time that the pageant was held in the Philippines, although the host country is Japan. Preparation for the Olympic Games in 2020 motivated the organization to look for a different venue.

Karen began her Binibining Pilipinas journey in 2012, where she placed in the Top 15. She was seven years younger then and had only joined to get a feel for pageantry.

After going through the Binibining Pilipinas competition twice, Karen said that she has learned that preparation is key in pageants. — with reports from Jessica Bartolome / AT, GMA News