Yara Liz Lasanta from Puerto Rico becomes the first Miss World 2010 semifinalist after she won Beach Beauty Fast Track held at the magnificent Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Her court includes United States as 1st Runner Up, Norway as 2nd Runner Up, China as 3rd Runner Up and French Polynesia as 4th Runner Up.
The preliminary round for beach beauty was held shortly after the arrival of the contestants in Sanya last week. Out of 115 contestants, only 40 made the semifinal. The final was initially scheduled for Saturday. However bad weather and heavy rains forced the event to be postponed until Tuesday. During the final round, the semifinalists were all dressed in exclusively designed red beachwear, a tribute to Chinese national color. They were cut first into Top 20 finalists, before the judges announced the Top 5 and the overall winner.
Coincidence or not, Yara Lasanta herself also won Beach Beauty round in her national pageant, Miss World Puerto Rico. She competed at Miss World Puerto Rico 2009 and was chosen as 1st Runner Up. But when the national pageant was cancelled this year, Yara was handpicked to represent Puerto Rico, and she won Beach Beauty once again, this time in international level.
Beach Beauty itself is one of the oldest Fast Track, having created since Fast Track first introduced in 2003 edition. So far this event is dominated by European and Latin American delegates. The only non European or Latin American nation to win this event was United States in 2004. However, it was represented by a Brazilian American delegate, Nancy Randall. No Asian or African nation has ever won the event.
Congratulations Puerto Rico ... see you in semifinal round!
