A 26-year-old model is hoping to make history by becoming the first woman with Down syndrome to appear in the prestigious Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Mikayla Holmgren is no stranger to making history. In 2017, the Minnesota native became the first woman with Down syndrome to compete in a Miss USA pageant, where she won the Spirit of Miss USA and Director's awards.
Now, Holmgren has been busy filming and submitting an audition tape with the hopes of being the first model with Down Syndrome to appear in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit issue - which has become a beacon of inclusivity in recent years.
In an interview with Fox 9, Holmgren says she want to inspire other people with Down syndrome - or other differences - to "be confident and go after your dreams".
Posting on her Instagram account - where she boasts over 21,000 followers - Holmgren wrote: "Everyone is talking about inclusion right now and one of the most underrepresented groups is people with special needs.
"I would love to be the beacon of hope for so many young girls who can relate to me."
"SI Swim has been such a champion in the diversity of beauty. Now is the time to include someone like me," she says in her audition tape. "All women deserve to be celebrated. We need awareness for those with special needs."
And after finishing her audition tape, Holmgren wrote on Instagram: "And that’s a wrap! I felt so accomplished when we finished the filming of my @si_swimsearch casting tape!
"We hear a lot about inclusion these days and I would love to be invited to that conversation as a woman with #DownSyndrome as ALL women deserve to be celebrated!"
This comes after people celebrated World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, a day to not only raise awareness of the condition, but also to provide a louder voice for people with Down syndrome, and those who live and work with them.