Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Linda Pétursdóttir won the 1988 Miss World in the last pageant to be held at the historic Royal Albert Hall. The second Miss Iceland to win the title, Linda, 1.7 meters blonde hotel receptionist received a prize of 30,000 pounds after being chosen from among 84 contestants. Linda had been the bookmakers' third favourite to win before the contest. She also was named winner of the Queen of Beauty Trophy for Europe, one of five continental prizes first awarded in 1981. Linda said she was a body-builder, swimmer and organist and that travelling was one of her life's ambitions. She is now a successful business woman running Baðhúsið, The Bath House, a ladies-only health spa. After a period in Vancouver, Canada, she has returned to her native Iceland and given birth to a daughter Isabella. The daughter's father has not been publicly revealed.
The runners-up were:
1st runner-up: Yeon-hee Choi (Korea)
2nd runner-up: Kirsty Roper (United Kingdom)
Finalists:
3rd runner-up: Emma Irmgard Marina Rabbe Ramirez (Venezuela)
4th runner-up: Susana de la Llave Varon (Spain)
The delegates who made in the top ten are:
Catherine Bushell (Australia), Alexandra Werbanschitz (Austria), Rita Paulsen (Norway), Cecilia Margareta Hörberg (Sweden), and Diana Magaňa (United States).
Special awards
Personality: Helena Isabel de Cunha Laureano (Portugal)
Photogenic: Mariluz Aguilar Rivas (Guatemala)
Continental Queens
Africa: Dianna Naylor - Kenya
Americas: Emma Irmgard Marina Rabbe Ramirez - Venezuela
Asia: Yeon-hee Choi - Korea
Europe: Linda Pétursdóttir - Iceland
Oceania: Catherine Bushell - Australia
***This is the first time that there were only 10 semi-finalists and five out of the Top 10 would make it into the finals.
***Preliminary swimsuits in Miss World 1988 was held in Hotel Torrequebrada, Benalmadena and Puerto Banus, Malaga, Spain.
