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Miss Universe 2002 was the 51st
Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...
pageant, held at the
Roberto Clemente Coliseum Roberto Clemente Coliseum (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Coliseo Roberto Clemente'') is a sports and concert arena located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was, for many years, Puerto Rico's largest indoor event facility, and remains one of the large ...
in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...
, Puerto Rico on 29 May 2002. At the end of the event,
Denise Quiñones Denise Marie Quiñones August (born 9 September 1980) is a Puerto Rican actress, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2001. Prior to winning the Miss Universe pageant, she represented her hometown of Lares in the Miss Puerto Ri ...
of Puerto Rico crowned
Oxana Fedorova Oksana Gennadyevna Borodina (; née Fedorova, ), known professionally as Oxana Fedorova, is a Russian beauty pageant winner who was crowned Miss Universe 2002 and awarded the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation in 2024. Fedorova began ...
of Russia as Miss Universe 2002. This was the first time that Russia had been crowned Miss Universe. Fedorova had her title removed four months later as she could not travel to fulfill her duties, and was replaced by first runner-up
Justine Pasek Justine Lissette "Yostin" Pasek Patiño () is a Soviet-born Polish-Panamanian model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2002. Originally the first runner-up at the Miss Universe 2002 competition, Pasek became the first ever runner-up ...
of Panama. Contestants from seventy-five countries competed in this pageant. The competition was hosted by
Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the New York Giants. After playing college football for the Morehead Sta ...
and
Daisy Fuentes Daisy Fuentes (born November 17, 1966) is a Cuban-American model, television host, actress and former weather presenter. Fuentes became MTV's first Latina VJ (signed to MTV and MTV Latin America simultaneously) and Revlon's first Latina spoke ...
, and Miss Universe 1997
Brook Lee Brook Antoinette Mahealani Lee (born January 8, 1971) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Hawaii USA 1997, Miss USA 1997 and Miss Universe 1997. Lee was the first native Hawaiian to win the title of Miss Universe. Early li ...
was the backstage correspondent.
Marc Anthony Marco Antonio Muñiz (born September 16, 1968), known professionally as Marc Anthony, is an American singer and actor. He is the top selling salsa artist of all time. A four-time Grammy Award, eight-time Latin Grammy Award and twenty-nine-tim ...
performed at this pageant. This was also the last Miss Universe edition to be aired on CBS.


Background


Location and date

In December 2001,
Jorge Santini Jorge Santini Padilla (born March 11, 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician who previously served as the mayor of San Juan. State Service In 1975, Santini became a member of the United States Marines Air Cadets Corps. At present, he is lieutena ...
, then- mayor of San Juan and Miss Universe 2001 Denise Quiñones attended at a news conference in San Juan where it was announced that the 2002 pageant will be held in Puerto Rico for the second consecutive year. The city of San Juan was chosen as the venue of the pageant from eight other cities.


Selection of participants

Seventy-five countries and territories competed in the pageant. One candidate was appointed to her position to replace the original winner.


Replacements

Lorena Ayala, the winner of Miss España 2001 pageant, cut all ties with the Miss España organization and lost the right to represent Spain at any international pageant after a threat of a lawsuit against the
Miss España The Miss Spain (Spanish: Miss España) is a national beauty pageant in Spain that selects Spanish representatives to compete in three of the big four major international beauty pageants: the Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International c ...
Organization by her family, due to a contractual breach with the organization. Ayala was replaced by Vania Millán at the request of the Miss Universe Organization.


Debuts and withdrawals

The 2002 edition saw the debuts of Albania and China, and the returns of Kenya who last competed in
Miss Universe 1995 Miss Universe 1995 was the 44th Miss Universe pageant, held on 12 May 1995 at the Windhoek Country Club Resort in Windhoek, Namibia. Chelsi Smith of the United States was crowned by Sushmita Sen of India at the end of the event. Eighty-two co ...
, Guyana who last competed in
Miss Universe 1999 Miss Universe 1999 was the 48th Miss Universe pageant, held on 26 May 1999 at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago. Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana was crowned by Wendy Fitzwilliam of Trinidad and Tobago at the e ...
, and Australia, Mauritius, and Namibia who last competed in
Miss Universe 2000 Miss Universe 2000 was the 49th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Eleftheria Indoor Hall in Nicosia, Cyprus on 12 May 2000. At the end of the event, Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana crowned Lara Dutta of India as Miss Universe 2000. It is the co ...
. Karen Russell of Belize and Yana Booth of Great Britain withdrew due to a change of the local franchise holder.
Christina Sawaya Christina Sawaya (; born 16 August 1981) is a Lebanese singer, actress and television host who won the Miss International 2002 pageant. Career She started her career as master of ceremony for big events. She participated in a series of Beauty ...
, Miss Lebanon 2001, withdrew due to her support of the
Second Intifada The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...
, stating that she couldn't compete with
Miss Israel Miss Israel (also referred to as , , ) was a national beauty pageant in Israel. The pageant was founded in 1950, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe. History In the late 1920s, a "Esther, Queen Esther Beauty Pageant" was held in Tel Avi ...
2002, Yamit Har-Noy at the pageant. Euwonka Selver of the Turks and Caicos Islands had her title removed a few weeks before leaving for the pageant, and the organization didn't replace her. Shirley Yeung of Hong Kong, Loredana Zammit of Malta, and Gabriela Riquelme of Paraguay withdrew after their respective organizations lost their licenses. Hong Kong began sending their candidates to Miss China in 2003. Argentina, Barbados, Botswana, New Zealand, and Taiwan withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.


Replacement of Oxana Fedorova

In September 2002, four months after winning Miss Universe, Fedorova was replaced by Justine Pasek, making her the first Miss Universe to be removed during their reign. According to then-president of the Miss Universe Organization Paula Shugart, Fedorova was not able to fulfill her duties as she needed to spend a lot of time in Russia. Fedorova was expected to travel extensively and make personal appearances as part of her duties, but she declined to participate in some of those assignments, including the 2002 Miss Teen USA pageant. In an interview with Russian TV Channel 2, Fedorova said she was surprised when the Miss Universe Organization described her resignation as an ouster, and that the decision to return the crown was up to her. According to Fedorova, the reason why she spent so much time in Russia was because of her education. Fedorova is a police lieutenant in Russia, and at the time she was Miss Universe, she was finishing her dissertation at the Academy of Internal Affairs which she defended in October of the same year. Fedorova also refuted speculations that she is pregnant because she is not yet married. First runner-up Justine Pasek was crowned as Miss Universe 2002 at a press conference in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
by Donald Trump.


Results


Placements


Special awards


Best National Costume


Pageant


Format

Same with
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
, ten semifinalists were chosen through the preliminary competition— composed of the swimsuit and evening gown competitions and closed-door interviews. The ten semifinalists competed in the evening gown and swimsuit competitions and were narrowed down to five afterward. The five finalists competed in the question and answer round and the final question round, after which Miss Universe 2002 and her runners-up were announced.


Selection committee


Final broadcast

*
Marshall Faulk Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973) is an American former professional American football, football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons and is the current running backs coach at the Colorado ...
– American football player *
Tyrese Gibson Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American R&B singer and actor from Los Angeles, California. He signed with RCA Records in 1998, and released his debut single " Nobody Else" in August of that year. It peaked within the top ...
– American singer, actor, and model *
Marisol Malaret Marisol Malaret Contreras (October 13, 1949 – March 19, 2023) was a Puerto Rican TV host, model and beauty queen who won the title of Miss Universe 1970, becoming the first Caribbean and Puerto Rican woman to be crowned Miss Universe. Biograp ...
Miss Universe 1970 Miss Universe 1970 was the 19th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States on July 11, 1970. At the end of the event, Gloria Diaz of the Philippines crowned Marisol Malaret of Puerto Rico a ...
from Puerto Rico *
Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American actor. McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy '' Happy Gilmore'', a role he’d later reprise in 2025’s sequel '' H ...
– American actor * Yue-Sai Kan – Chinese-American actress, host, humanitarian, and entrepreneur * Oswald Mendez – A contestant from '' The Amazing Race 2'' *
Nicole Miller Nicole Miller is an American fashion designer and businesswoman. Miller attended the Rhode Island School of Design where she earned a BFA in Apparel Design. She studied for a year at L'Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture ParisienneBal ...
– American fashion designer and businesswoman *
Gena Lee Nolin Gena Lee Nolin (born November 29, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her television appearances on ''The Price Is Right'' and ''Baywatch'' in the 1990s. During the early 2000s she played the lead role in '' Sheena''. Early life Nol ...
– American actress and model *
Tatjana Patitz Tatjana Patitz (25 May 1966 – 11 January 2023) was a German fashion model. She achieved international prominence in the 1980s and 1990s representing fashion designers on runways and in magazines such as ''Elle (magazine), Elle'', ''Harper's B ...
– German model *
Ethan Zohn Ethan Zohn (born November 12, 1973) is an American motivational speaker, former professional soccer player, and reality television series contestant who won '' Survivor: Africa'', the third season of the reality TV series ''Survivor''. He went o ...
– American television personality


Contestants

Seventy-five contestants competed for the title.


Notes


References


External links


Miss Universe official website
{{Miss Universe 2002 delegates
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
2002 in Puerto Rico 2002 beauty pageants Beauty pageants in Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico May 2002 in North America