The former Miss Colorado is also an active duty air force officer. Madison Marsh, age 22, made history on Sunday night when she was crowned Miss America.
The 2024 Miss America contest featured a fitness runway walk, talent show, evening gown presentation, and a hot topic discussion. She celebrated her win by sharing an inspirational message on her Instagram account. “You can achieve anything. The sky is not the limit and the only person that’s stopping you is you,” she said, per People. She is the first active duty Air Force officer to take the prize. Madison is a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force. She studied physics at the Air Force Academy.
She’s no slouch.
Following her win, the Air Force celebrated her victory on social media, by sharing a photo of her in her military uniform and her red dress as she was crowned. “Congratulations to our very own #Airman 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh, aka Miss Colorado — who was just crowned @MissAmerica 2024! Marsh is the first active duty servicemember to ever win the title,” it said. “#AimHigh.”
Following her graduation, Madison received a Truman scholarship, and she’s currently using it to get a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, according to her bio. She’s also a graduate intern at the Harvard Medical School, where she’s studying how to detect pancreatic cancer with the help of artificial intelligence.
In her free time, Madison still enjoys staying active, including with martial arts. Her bio states that she’s a black belt in Taekwondo. Her hobbies also include reading, cooking pasta, and flying.
The connection to research on pancreatic cancer is her mother. She died of pancreatic cancer in 2018. Madison established a foundation to raise money or research and to honor her mother.
Not too shabby for a beauty queen, I’d say.
Madison began doing beauty pageants after she joined the military. She said that staying fit for pageants is a good tie-in to staying fit for her military service.
Madison, the @CityofCOS wishes you great success. You have inspired countless young girls to dream big and reach for the stars. Congratulations!#WeAreColoradoSprings #missamerica #missamerica2024
— Mayor Yemi (@MayorofCOS) January 15, 2024
She is originally from Fort Smith, Arkansas. During the competition, she focused on keeping her military service at the forefront.
During the discussion round, Marsh mentioned her mother, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2018, according to CNN. The tragic death motivated her to start the Whitney Marsh Foundation to raise money for cancer research.
During the talent round, she offered a spoken-word piece that addressed earning her pilot’s license at 16, the outlet reported.
When she was asked more questions as one of the top finalists, she reportedly talked about her military career which she said represents how leads and learns “with passion.”
“It’s an awesome experience to bring both sides of the favorite parts of my life together and hopefully make a difference for others to be able to realize that you don’t have to limit yourself,” Marsh previously said about competing in pageants and training with the Air Force.
Pageants have had problems in recent years as they seek to modernize. The Miss America pageant has revamped its format to focus on achievement over beauty. This young woman sounds deserving of the title.