Contestants in the Miss America Competition will no longer have to wear a swimsuit.
On Tuesday, the pageant’s official Twitter account tweeted a short video of a white bikini going up in a puff of smoke with the hashtag #byebyebikini.
Organisers of the event say the women taking part will be judged on other attributes, and not just on physical appearance.
The current Miss America Cara Mund welcomed the move by tweeting, “We’re changing out of our swimsuits and into a whole new era #byebyebikini #MissAmerica2019.”
Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey reports.