A black girl is elected Miss Dominican Republic Universe 2002; it was the first time in the island’s history that the blacks ,who make up roughly 11% of the population, had one of their own as national queen.
2.For the second consecutive time, the island of Puerto Rico wins the right to host the pageant. PR (Mis Universe 2001’s home country!) will be a three-time host in 2002.
3.Despite threats and bans from Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Beijing holds first Miss China Universe during a underground contest in the southern city of Enping. The country’s first competition resulted in the election of Zhuo Ling,who impressed the judges and experts for her “perfect English” at the 2002 Miss Universe.
4. The island to host seventy-five entries from seventy-five countries and dependencies for MU.
5. The first delegate representing the People’s Republic of China (PRC) makes their international debut in the Miss Universe contest in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
6. The Bamboo Curtain competes in the global competition after four years appealling to Chinese government for approval to hold a Miss China Universe! Up to 2003, the PRC showed “a monumental indifference” to participate at Miss Universe. ”This is 2002, we’ve joined the W.T.O., we’ve been selected to hold the 2008 Olympics,” said Shi Sizhi, the first national President for Miss Universe China, in an interview with the New York Times. ”All I’m trying to do is to bring Miss Universe to China. What’s to be afraid of here?” Under this atmosphere, Zhuo Ling, however, is second runner-up (China’s highest-ever ranking), well ahead of Miss America Shauntay Hinton (unplaced in MU) and Venezuela’s strong contestant Cinthya Lander Zamora. Since the mid-2000s, the People’s Republic of China has held elections for Miss China Universe in all provinces.
7. Germany’s Venezuelan-born candidate Natascha Borger is one of 12 semi-finalists on Puerto Rico’s capital city. Before becoming Miss Germany Universe 2002, she qualified for the semis at Miss Venezuela 2000.
8.Russian Oxana Federova resigns as Miss Universe 2002, being replaced by Panama’s delegate ,Justin Pasek, who was named first runner-up on the island of PR. The young Panamanian, a fashion model with international experience in Europe, is crowned by the American multimillionaire Donald Trump in New York City.
9. The new MU 2002 reflects the multiethnic nature of Panama:Pasek’s family background includes a mix of Ukrainian and Panamanian. No other Central American beauty queen can make that claim. Her title coincides with the 99 th anniversary of Panama. The nation has already tried 18 times without ever succeeding. But the travel to New York City turned into the greatest day for the Central American republic, home of a host of “tropical beauties” such as Melida Boyd, Gloria Karamanites (the contry’s first black queen as well as semifinalist at Seoul’80),Marissa Burgos, Lia Victoria Borrero (Miss International 1998), and Yamani Saied.
10. A new star emerges to the world: Japan. Determined to knock Venezuela off the top of the Miss Universe pageant, Miss Japan’s national director, Ines Ligron, prepares world-class beauty queens at Tokyo, among them Kurara Chibana, Riyo Mori, and Miyako Miyazaki.