Kristel Ruiz Freeman, Alexandria Kelly, Gizzelle Mandy Uys, Kelley Day, Steffanía Alejandra Rodríguez Vivas (©Miss Eco International)

Kristel Ruiz Freeman, 22, of Costa Rica almost won Miss Eco International 2021 in Egypt. She was fourth runner-up.

Originally from Limón, Costa Rica, Ruiz currently lives in San José, Costa Rica where she works as a journalist and producer. She is also a professional model.

Ruiz attended the Universidad Federada San Judas Tadeo in San José. In October 2019, she was crowned Miss Eco Costa Rica 2020.

Hosted by Miss Earth Egypt 2014 Nancy Magdy, 27, the Miss Eco International 2021 coronation night took place at the Baron Resort Sharm El Sheikh in Nasrany, Sharm El-Sheikh, South Sinai, South Sinai Governorate, Egypt on April 4, 2021. Including Ruiz, a total of 39 candidates competed for the title.

It was the sixth edition of the international beauty pageant that aims to promote environmental awareness and eco-tourism. It was Gizzelle Mandy Uys, 24, of South Africa who won the crown.

Kelley Day, 24, of the Philippines was runner-up to Uys. Alexandria Kelly, 24, of the United States and Steffanía Alejandra Rodríguez Vivas, 22, of Venezuela were the second and third runners-up respectively.

Originally, the beauty pageant was called Miss Eco Queen with Patricia Peklar of Slovenia crowned as the inaugural titleholder in Alexandria, Egypt on April 5, 2015. It changed its name to Miss Eco Universe with Natalia Carvajal of Costa Rica as the crowned titleholder on April 14, 2016 in Giza, Egypt.

On April 14, 2017, Amber Bernachi of Canada was crowned Miss Eco International 2017, making her the first one to win under the competition’s current name. She crowned her successor Cynthia Thomalla of the Philippines on April 27, 2018 in Cairo, Egypt.

On March 29, 2019, Thomalla went back to Cairo to crown Rashia Suheyn Cipriani Noriega of Peru as her successor. However, the latter was later dethroned and replaced by Amy Nurtinie Abdul Aziz of Malaysia, who was originally the fourth runner-up.

In 2020, Nurtinie did not crown her successor due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. She was present during the Miss Eco International 2021 coronation night to crown Uys in person.