26-year-old Louise Victor was crowned Miss Universe St. Lucia 2017 last August 1. She is expected to compete in Miss Universe 2017, which has yet to officially announce its date and venue. This marks her Caribbean nation’s return to the pageant after a year’s absence.

St. Lucia has been competing in the Miss Universe pageant for 40 years, but has yet to penetrate the semi-finals. Its debut year, 1977, yielded the very first black Miss Universe titleholder – Trinidad and Tobago‘s Janelle Commissiong.

Louise is the first Miss Universe St. Lucia to hail from the village of Micoud. All her predecessors had been from her country’s capital of Castries.

Photos grabbed from Louise’s Facebook page.