Johannesburg:

Russia’s Kseniya Sukhinova won the Miss World 2008 crown on December 13 in a glittering African-themed pageant where she outshone 108 other international beauties and pledged to “help people.”

The second runner up was Gabrielle Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago and the first runner up Parvathay Omanakuttan of India. The 21-year-old blue-eyed blonde beauty, who declared shortly before her win was announced that being nervous made her “feel stronger,” takes over from Zhang Zi Lin of China to become the 58th Miss World.

“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 told judges through a translator after being asked why she should be crowned the winner.

Hailing from Nizhnevartovsk in the north west of Siberia, Sukhinova was dressed in a purple gown, with a decorative neckline and flowing skirt. She is a student pursuing an engineering degree from the Tyumen Oil and Gas University. Sukhinova becomes the second Miss Russia to win the global event after Julia Kourochkina took the crown in 1992.

India’s Omanakuttan wooed the crowd by greeting them in the Afrikaans language, spoken by many in South Africa. She also referred to heroes such as Mahatma Ghandi and South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela, who was quoted by Trinidad and Tobago’s Walcott as well.

Contestants, aged 17 to 25, were dressed by South African and Jamaican designers for the final show after a month of galas, rehearsals and even a safari on the tip of the African continent.

Beauties from 109 countries were whittled down to 15 semi-finalists with India, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, Angola and South Africa among the five finalists. South Africa’s Tansey Coetzee had her home crowd on their feet shouting support as her name as a finalist was

announced.

The winner of the event, broadcast live to millions of viewers in 187 countries, has to espouse “beauty with a purpose” with charity being one of the main focuses of the pageant.