The winner of Miss Deutschland 1997, Nadine Schmidt elected not to participate at Miss Universe 1997, and she was replaced by her 3rd runner-up, Agathe Neunen because the other runners-up did not meet the age requirement of 18 to take part at Miss Universe.
Nadine Schmidt, the winner of Miss Deutschland 1997, chose not to participate in Miss Universe 1997 because she did not meet the age requirement for participation.  Agathe Neunen, her 3rd runner-up, was chosen as a replacement.