Miss Colombia Paulina Vega has been crowned Miss Universe in Miami, beating out first runner-up Miss USA Nia Sanchez and contestants from over 80 other countries at Sunday’s pageant.
Vega, 22, said the contests leading up to the Miss Universe pageant were her first and her last, as she is eager to return to her study of business administration in Colombia after her reign ends.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”– Paulina Vega” author_title=”Miss Universe”]
It will be a dream come true to represent the woman of today. A woman that not only cares about being beautiful and being glamorous, but also cares about being a professional, intelligent, hard-working person.
[/quote]
Vega is the granddaughter is well-known Colombian singer Gastón Vega and a business student from the city of Barranquilla.
Nia Sanchez, Miss USA from Las Vegas, Nevada, was the first runner-up, followed by Miss Ukraine Diana Harkusha. Sanchez, 24, had said she looked forward to the often-dreaded interview portion of the pageant. Sanchez has a fourth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and travels to teach others, according to the Los Angeles Times.
There was an outcry on Twitter when Miss Jamaica was named as the fourth runner-up, and boos were heard from the crowd. There was also an outcry when crowd favorite Miss Venezuela Migbellis Lynette-Castellanos was cut from the top ten, according to USA Today.
The new Miss Universe addressed international reporters at Trump National Dora Miami late Sunday. The pageant, broadcast on NBC and Telemundo, featured snippets of the contestants in Key Biscayne and at Trump National Doral, the host resort. During the news conference, Trump announced that the pageant will be aired for at least five years on Univision instead of Telemundo, according to the Miami Herald.
