thecrowncompetitors

Darego was crowned Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria in 2001. Contrary to popular belief, Darego did not replace Valerie Peterside after the latter was dethroned - Peterside had won Miss Nigeria. Before MBGN, Darego had participated in the Face of Africa modelling competition, but failed to make it past the first round. While a first-year student of the University of Port Harcourt, she represented Nigeria in the 2001 Miss Universe competition, held in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. She placed among the top 10 semi-finalists, finishing seventh. She was the only black semi-finalist that year - and the only finalist to wear a maillot swimsuit. In November 2001, Darego traveled to South Africa to compete in the Miss World competition, beating Miss Scotland and Miss Aruba in the final round to become the first black African winner of the title. Her victory in the pageant, hosted by American talk show host Jerry Springer, was widely welcomed in her home country. Her one year tenure included goodwill trips and scheduled appearances on behalf of the pageant. In addition, the organizers of the competition began preparations to host the 2002 finals in Nigeria, as the pageant is often held in the winner's home country the subsequent year. One week before the 2002 pageant, riots erupted in Kaduna (source required) and other cities in northern Nigeria after small protests against the competition inflamed simmering religious tension between Muslims and Christians. Several hundred died in the violence that ensued. The 2002 Miss World competition was moved from Nigeria to the United Kingdom, where it was staged in London that December. Darego left the University of Port Harcourt after her reign as Miss World ended in 2002. She is signed to Next Model Management, and is currently pursuing a modelling career in Europe. She has modelled for L'Oreal cosmetics.

1st Runner-up Aruba - Zizi Lee
2nd Runner-up Scotland - Juliet-Jane Horne

Finalists

 People's Republic of China - Bing Li
 Nicaragua - Ligia Argüello

Semi-finalists

 Russia - Irina Kovalenko
 South Africa - Jo-Ann Strauss
 Spain - Macarena García
 Ukraine - Oleksandra Nikolayenko
 Yugoslavia - Tijana Stajšić

Continental Queens of Beauty

Africa Nigeria - Agbani Darego
Americas Nicaragua - Ligia Arguello
Asia & Oceania People's Republic of China - Bing Li
Caribbean Aruba - Zizi Lee
Europe Scotland - Juliet-Jane Horne

Special Awards

Best World Dress Designer Korea - Seo Hyun-jin
Most Photogenic Thailand - Lada Engchawadechasilp
Miss World Talent Barbados - Stephanie Chase
Miss World Scholarship Costa Rica - Piarella Peralta

***Hawaii is technically represented twice: as part of the United States and as Hawaii itself. 
This is the only second time Hawaii had joined the competition (the first one in 1959).

***Christina Sawaya (Lebanon) was expected to compete at Miss Universe 2002, but boycotted because of the participation of an Israeli delegate. She later won the Miss International 2002 title.