Stephanie Del Valle of the island of Puerto Rico has been crowned as the winner of Miss World 2016.
The 19-year old Puerto Rican beauty is fluent in English, Spanish, and French, according to the Telegraph. She bested 116 other beauties vying for the blue crown from Mireia Lalaguna, Miss World 2015 from Spain.
The 66th edition of the Britain-based international beauty pageant was held on January 18 at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The newly-opened MGM resort complex is just south of Washington, D.C., United States of America, which served as filming backdrop for Miss World 2016.
During the Final 5 question round, Del Valle said that it is both an "honor and a great responsibility" to represent her island nation in the Miss World pageant, the biggest among international beauty tilts in terms of number of annual participants.
With her victory, Del Valle became the second woman from Puerto Rico to become Miss World, after the victory of Wilnelia Merced in 1975. Intrestingly, Wilnelia Merced-Forsyth also sat as one of the judges in Miss World 2016.
Winning second place is Dominican Republic, represented by Yaritza Reyes who has already competed in Miss Universe 2013. Third place went to Indonesia, Natasha Manuella, who also won the Beauty with a Purpose award.
Completing the Top 5 are Misses Philippines, Catriona Gray, who won the Multimedia fast track event; and Kenya, Evelyn Thungu.
Miss World 2016 has been a controversial edition with the participation of Miss Canada, the Chinese-born Anastasia Lin. It has been alleged that pageant organizers have warned her against speaking before the press on criticizing China about the Asian country's reported human rights abuses, the New York Times reported.
In Miss World 2015, which was held in China, Miss Canada was barred entry and was forced to withdraw from the competition.
Full results:
Miss World 2016: Puerto Rico
2nd Place: Dominican Republic
3rd Place: Indonesia
Top 5
Kenya, Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Philippines
Top 10
China, Kenya, Belgium, Philippines, Indonesia, USA, Korea, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Puerto Rico
Top 20
China, Kenya, Belgium, Ghana, Philippines, Cook Islands, Mongolia, Indonesia, France, USA, India, Slovakia, Korea, Hungary, Dominican Republic, Japan, Brazil, Thailand, Australia, Puerto Rico
Fast Track Winners:
Top Model: China PR
Sports: Cook Islands
Talent: Mongolia
Multimedia: Philippines
Beauty with a Purpose: Indonesia
