Cyndy Nell flies SA flag in Panama
Wednesday June 04, 2003 07:30 - (SA)
PANAMA CITY - 21-year-old South African Cyndy Nell was judged second runner-up in the Miss Universe competition. She was behind Amelia Vega, an 18-year-old student from the Dominican Republic, who took top honours, followed by Miss Venezuela, Maria Angel Ruiz, 23. Reigning Miss Universe Justine Pasek of Panama and pageant co-owner Donald Trump placed a $250,000 crown of diamonds and pearls on Vega's head. Representatives from 71 countries took the stage earlier at the contest held at a brand new convention center in Amador, a former US military base at the Pacific Ocean entrance to the Panama Canal. Vega, a recent high school graduate and niece of popular Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra, also was voted best dressed contestant for her shimmering gown that was reminiscent of the ocean's waves. Pasek was only the runner-up in the 2002 Miss Universe pageant: in September she took over as queen when organizers stripped Miss Russia, Oxana Fedorova, of the title - officially "for breach of contract because she has failed to fulfill the duties required of the title" - but unofficially because Fedorova reportedly married in secret and was pregnant. It was the first time since the pageant was first held in 1952, organized by a swimsuit company in southern California, that a Miss Universe lost her crown. One contestant this year was forced to drop out: Miss Iceland, Manuela Osk Hardardottir, couldn't handle the tropical heat and was hospitalised over the weekend for dehydration. Hardardottir, 19, was not in the running as a finalist, though she participated in the event, organizers said. Since their arrival here two weeks ago, the contestants' every move have been shadowed by the tabloids, one of which reported that Miss Spain, Eva Maria Gonzalez, and her roommate Miss Colombia, Diana Lucia Mantilla, got into a fistfight over Gonzalez's smoking habit. They later denied it all happened. And Venezuela almost failed to send a representative due to money problems. AFP