Russia is crowned Miss World

The eyes of the world were on one stage when Kseniya Sukhinovia from Russia was crowned Miss World in a glittering, star - studded ceremony at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, the City of Gold.

The 2008 Miss World Festival, a record breaking year in the number of contestants taking part, has seen 109 beautiful and talented contestants spend an unforgettable month in South Africa. However, there could only be one winner and the applause rang out in the packed Convention Centre as Julia Morley, Chairman of the Miss World Organisation and of the international panel of judges, announced the winner`s name. Kseniya Sukhoinova smile spoke a thousand words to a worldwide TV audience of over 2 billion as she was crowned by last year`s Miss World, Zilin Zhang.

Trinidad and Tobago`s Gabrielle Walcott was second runner-up and India`s Parvathay Omanakuttan was first runner-up. The other two finalists were South Africa and Angola.