The world is still reeling from Sports Illustrated’s latest Swimsuit Issue release, but one model is already gearing up for the next one.

Brazil native Anne de Paula, who turns 22 this week, learnt on Tuesday during an emotional reveal that she is the first model to have secured a spot in the magazine’s 2018 issue.

The rising star, who has been working in the industry since she was 14 and originally wanted to be a gynecologist, was picked by online voters as the winner of Sports Illustrated’s Model Search competition, which propels its winners straight into the ‘rookie’ section of its next edition.

Scroll down for video 

De Paula, who posed in body paint in this year’s Swimsuit Issue alongside other Model Search competitors Hunter McGrady, Lisa-Marie Jaftha, and McKenna Berkley, shed tears of joy when she found out she would once again star in Sports Illustrated.

The 21-year-old thought she had been called to star in a regular episode of SI Now, the magazine’s program, but as she read the teleprompter, a surprise message told her about her victory.

‘Hi, I’m Anne de Paula, and I’m the winner of the SI Swimsuit Model Search,’ the model read through happy sobs.

She celebrated her new career milestone, which occurred just three days before she turns 22.

‘It means a lot to me coming from Brazil, it was so hard to leave my country, and my parents know how hard it was to get here… It’s a dream come true,’ she said. ‘And it’s the best birthday ever!’

De Paula got her start in modeling thanks to her mother, who suggested she might want to give it a try.

She thought she would work in the medical field like the rest of her family, but took her first steps as a model aged 13 and signed with her first agency aged 14.

Although her glamorous shots might suggest otherwise, De Paula is a self-described ‘tomboy’ and loves playing sports, most recently the Thai combat discipline Muay Thai.

‘I used to play soccer on the team of my city. I used to be a goalkeeper and that was my number one thing. I just loved soccer,’ she told Sports Illustrated.

‘And then as soon as I was a teenager I got into Muay Thai…I absolutely love it. I do it like three times a week.’

Thinking again about her victory in this year’s competition, De Paula said she couldn’t wait to tell ‘everyone’ in Brazil.

‘I’m so happy. I cried a lot already,’ she said in a Facebook video. ‘It means everything, and saying thank you isn’t enough.’