July 14, 2008 (Monday) gave the people of Venezuela a cause of celebration. The moment was when Dayana Mendoza was crowned Miss Universe 2008. Sharing the platform, in the moment of glory, were four other participants - Miss Columbia Taliana Vargas (1st runner up), Miss Dominican Republic Marianne Cruz Gonzalez (2nd runner up), Miss Russia Vera Krasova (3rd runner up) and Miss Mexico Elisa Najera (4th runner up). All of them competed against 75 other participants, to become one of the top five.
As a custom, elated Dayana Mendoza received the crown from her predecessor, Riyo Mori of Japan. Born on 1st July 1986, Dayana is a model, who hails from Caracas, Venezuela. She signed with Elite Model Management in 2001 and since then, has been walking the ramp for various international designers, like Versace and Roberto Cavalli. She speaks Spanish, English, and Italian fluently. A model by profession, Dayana Mendoza wants to make her career in Interior Design and also advertising.
First Runner Up
Standing second to Dayana is Miss Columbia Taliana Vargas, with the 1st runner up position. Born on 20th December 1987, this brown-eyed beauty is a student of Journalism, at the Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia. She is from Santa Marta, Magdalena, and speaks fluent Spanish, English, and Italian, apart from some Greek and Arabic. Taliana Vargas claims of Greek descent, through her grandparents. One of the ever youngest Miss Colombia, she is often described as a typical Latino model.
Second Runner Up
Marianne Cruz Gonzalez, of Dominican Republic, bagged the position of the 2nd runner up, in Miss Universe 2008. Before this, she won Miss Continente Americano 2007 beauty pageant. Born in Hermanas Mirabal, Salcedo, this femme fatale started working at a very young age, in order to provide financial support to her family. The 23-year old beauty is presently studying Fashion Design and Merchandising and aspires to become a world class fashion designer, just like Oscar De La Renta.
Third Runner Up
Miss Russia Vera Krasova became the third runner up in Miss Universe 2008 pageant. A 20-year old bombshell, who has just got over her teen years, she proclaims herself to be very ambitious. She is very independent by nature and has been helping her parents since the age of sixteen. Vera Krasova has had work experience during her college years, including one as a waitress. Though she is studying Management and economics presently, Krasova hasn’t yet chosen on the career path that she wants to follow in future.
Fourth Runner Up
Last, but not the least, is Miss Mexico Elisa Najera, who managed to gain the 4th runner up position in Miss Universe 2008. Standing tall at 6½ feet, this Mexican beauty also won the ‘Queen Of Vinpearl - Best in Swimsuit’ title. She was born on 16th August 1986, in Celaya, Guanajuato. Elisa Najera is currently studying ‘engineering in food industries’. In the future, she wants to open her own business, in the same area in which she is studying, along with her family, especially her mother, who is a chef.
-  of Russia.
 of Russia, won the  crown on Saturday, outshining 108 other international competitors. She was crowned by her predecessor ,  of the People's Republic of China. She pledged to "help people" and said, "I think I can help people and I want to help people and today if I walk away with this crown I will do that." 

Sukhinova, 5' 10", said that her immediate ambitions included meeting  Dmitry Medvedev. She is a student of , she is enrolled in the Bachelor of Science program, majoring in Engineering.

Sukhinova was born in 1987 in ,  in the north west of Siberia. Sukhinova won the 2007 Miss Russia beauty contest on December 14, in Moscow, where she represented Tyumen. Ksenia surpassed 50 other contestants from all over Russia. She was unable to represent Russia at  due to her college work, so her 2nd runner-up, , replaced her in the contest. Vera placed as the 3rd runner-up to Venezuela's .

Miss World 2008, the 58th Miss World was held at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 13, 2008. Originally, the pageant was going to take place in Kiev, Ukraine, but because of the ongoing  in neighboring South Ossetia, the  decided to move the pageant away from Eastern Europe. 109 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown, marking the biggest turnout in the 58 years of the pageant, surpassing the previous record of 107 during Miss World 2004. 
A locator map for  showing number of winners from each country.
She is the second Russian contestant to win Miss World, the first was  in .

The first runner-up was India's , while the second runner-up was Trinidad and Tobago's . The other finalists were Angola's  and South Africa's . There were 15 semi-finalists. 

, Miss World committee head, and wife of Miss World creator  said that the winner has to espouse "beauty with a purpose" with charity via fund raising, being one of the main focuses of the contest. "Over the years the crown that is worn by the winner is a symbol for fundraising. Miss World herself, this year, the winner from China, she's raised over 30 million dollars in her year in office. So perhaps from anything else it does a lot of good things for needy children and old people, which I think is important too." she said.

It was the sixth time that South Africa hosted the pageant, more than any other country except England. The event was aired live to millions of viewers in 187 countries, who, for the first time in the pageant's history, were allowed to vote for one of the semi-finalists through the Internet. An international jury elected the winner.