Damilola Bolarinde is counting down to the biggest stage of her pageant career, as she prepares to represent Nigeria at Miss International 2026, which holds on Wednesday, November 25, at the Tokyo Dome City Hall in Japan. The 64th edition of the pageant is about six weeks away, and reigning Miss International Catalina Duque of Colombia will crown her successor at the final.
The 28-year-old from Lagos earned her place at the pageant on April 19, 2026, when she won the Face of Hope pageant at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos and was crowned Miss International Nigeria 2026 by Duque herself. Miss Anambra, Genevieve Edwin, was named first runner-up and Miss Rivers, Augusta, second runner-up, while Bolarinde had also won the Day 1 Punctuality Award in camp and reached the finals through public voting.
Her preparation for Tokyo is backed by the prize package that came with the title, which includes a Mercedes-Benz GLE 350, ₦10 million in cash, a modelling contract and professional training in catwalk and etiquette. With roughly seven months between her crowning and the final, she has had time to build towards a competition that rewards both stage presence and purpose.
Bolarinde also arrives in Tokyo with international experience. She won The Nigerian Queen, then known as Miss Grand Nigeria, in 2022 and represented Nigeria at Miss Grand International in Indonesia that year, where she placed in the Top 20 and reached the Top 8 for Best in National Costume. She was later first runner-up at Miss Universe Nigeria 2025, which makes the Miss International title her third national pageant placement in four years.
Away from the stage, she is a professional model and actor, known for playing Lami in the Prime Video production Ms. Kanyin, and she is the founder of The Unconventional Quest, an advocacy project that encourages young people to pursue non-traditional careers.
In Tokyo she will compete against delegates from around the world, among them Katrina Johnson of the Philippines, Wilkister Chepkoech of Kenya and Félicia Borges of Cape Verde, in an edition that also welcomes a debut from Bhutan.
Last year’s final, held in Tokyo on November 27, 2025, offers a useful picture of what the stage can deliver. Catalina Duque of Colombia won the crown, Yollanda Chimbarami of Zimbabwe was first runner-up, Paola Guzmán of Bolivia was second runner-up, Melliza Xaviera Yulian of Indonesia was third runner-up and Myrna Esguerra of the Philippines was fourth runner-up, so an African delegate came within one place of the title.
