Russian Ksenia Sukhinova crowned Miss World 2008

December 14, 2008

of Russia, won the crown on Saturday, outshining 108 other international competitors. She was crowned by her predecessor, of the People's Republic of China. She pledged to "help people" and said, "I think I can help people and I want to help people and today if I walk away with this crown I will do that."

Sukhinova, 5' 10", said that her immediate ambitions included meeting Dmitry Medvedev. She is a student of, she is enrolled in the Bachelor of Science program, majoring in Engineering.

Sukhinova was born in 1987 in, in the north west of Siberia. Sukhinova won the 2007 Miss Russia beauty contest on December 14, in Moscow, where she represented Tyumen. Ksenia surpassed 50 other contestants from all over Russia. She was unable to represent Russia at due to her college work, so her 2nd runner-up,, replaced her in the contest. Vera placed as the 3rd runner-up to Venezuela's.

Miss World 2008, the 58th Miss World was held at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 13, 2008. Originally, the pageant was going to take place in Kiev, Ukraine, but because of the ongoing in neighboring South Ossetia, the  decided to move the pageant away from Eastern Europe. 109 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown, marking the biggest turnout in the 58 years of the pageant, surpassing the previous record of 107 during Miss World 2004. She is the second Russian contestant to win Miss World, the first was in.

The first runner-up was India's, while the second runner-up was Trinidad and Tobago's. The other finalists were Angola's and South Africa's. There were 15 semi-finalists.

, Miss World committee head, and wife of Miss World creator said that the winner has to espouse "beauty with a purpose" with charity via fund raising, being one of the main focuses of the contest. "Over the years the crown that is worn by the winner is a symbol for fundraising. Miss World herself, this year, the winner from China, she's raised over 30 million dollars in her year in office. So perhaps from anything else it does a lot of good things for needy children and old people, which I think is important too." she said.

It was the sixth time that South Africa hosted the pageant, more than any other country except England. The event was aired live to millions of viewers in 187 countries, who, for the first time in the pageant's history, were allowed to vote for one of the semi-finalists through the Internet. An international jury elected the winner.