Miss Alaska makes history as she is crowned the new Miss America

• Miss Alaska Emma Broyles has been crowned the next Miss America.
• Miss Alabama was the runner up, and Miss Massachusetts placed third in the pageant.

Miss Alaska has been crowned Miss America 2022, making history as the first contestant from the state to win the pageant in its century-long history.

The 100th annual Miss America competition was held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Thursday night. The event aired live on NBCUniversal's streaming service, Peacock.

Fifty women competed for the title, with Miss Maine having to withdraw from the competition after she contracted COVID-19.

Miss Alaska Emma Broyles won the competition, while Miss Alabama Lauren Bradford was the first runner up. Miss Massachusetts Elizabeth Pierre was third.

The first Miss Alaska to be crowned Miss America, Broyles, 19, is a student at the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University, where she studies biomedical science and voice performance. Miss Arizona Amber Barto is also a student at the Barrett Honors College.

She is also the first Korean American to be named Miss America.

She chose "Building Community Through Special Olympics" as her social initiative for the pageant, sharing that her brother who has Down Syndrome inspired her.

"I have been involved with Special Olympics since he first became eligible to be an athlete when he was seven," she said. "I really hope that with my work I'm able to see lifelong volunteers of Special Olympics, lifelong supporters."

Her talent in the pageant was singing, and during the interview portion of the competition, Broyles spoke passionately about wanting to show other women that Miss America contestants aren't perfect.

"I want to show people that I'm just like everybody else," she said. "People tend to put Miss America and Miss America titleholders up on this pedestal."

"I think that in that sense it kind of puts Miss America in this box that's put aside from the rest of society," she added. "One thing that I've really tried to do as Miss Alaska is show people that I am real. I have flaws. I have ADHD. I have dermatillomania."

"I've struggled with all of these things and because of that, I am a better person," Broyles said. "A lot of people don't recognize that their low points are what's going to propel them into their future."