Miss World 1972

Miss World 1972
Date	1 December 1972
Presenters	Michael Aspel David Vine
Venue	Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom
Broadcaster	BBC
Entrants	53
Placements	15
Debuts	Botswana Singapore
Withdrawals	Ceylon Cyprus Guyana Luxembourg Nicaragua Panama South Korea Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia
Returns	Costa Rica Honduras Hong Kong Liberia
Winner	Belinda Green [1] [2] Australia
←  1971 1973  →

Miss World 1972 was the 22nd edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom ^[2] , on 1 December 1972. Fifty-three delegates vied for the crown won by Belinda Green of Australia. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} Green became the second Australian winner of the crown in just four years. Since the reigning Miss World 1971, Lúcia Petterle had suffered a broken arm and was unable to travel to London, Eric Morley's wife Julia crowned the new Miss World 1972.

Selection of participants

Contestants from fifty-three countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant.

Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals

This edition marked the debut of Botswana and Singapore, and the return of Honduras, which last competed in 1967, Costa Rica in 1969 and Hong Kong and Liberia in 1970.

Ceylon, ^[a] Cyprus, Guyana, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, Panama, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago and Tunisia withdrew from the competition for unknown reasons. Maria Koutrouza of Cyprus and Chung Keum-ok of South Korea were supposed to arrive in the host country, but they never showed up. Martha Lucia Cardozo Cruz of Colombia and Regina Melgar de Garcia of Panama both arrived the day before the election, which was too late to compete, while Helga Vera Johns of Rhodesia, Miss Rhodesia 1972 was not allowed to compete due to her having British citizenship. She would later try to compete again in 1975 as Miss South Africa, but was barred again because she hadn't lived in South Africa for at least five years as per the requirements for the Miss World Organization. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Results

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results for Miss World 1972

Placement	Contestant
Miss World 1972	Australia – Belinda Green [1] [2] [4]
1st runner-up	Norway – Ingeborg Sørensen [2]
2nd runner-up	Israel – Chana Ordan [2]
3rd runner-up	Austria – Ursula Pacher [2]
4th runner-up	India – Malathi Basappa [2]
Top 7	Finland – Anneli Björkling [3] United Kingdom – Jenny McAdam [3]
Top 15	Guam – Marylou Pangelinan Mexico – Gloria Mayo Philippines – Evangeline Reyes Seychelles – Jane Stravens South Africa – Stephanie Reinecke Thailand – Jintana Jitsophon United States – Lynda Carter Yugoslavia – Biljana Ristić

Judges

A panel of judges evaluated the contestants' performances. ^[3] Peter Sellers was one of the judges. ^[3]

Contestants

Miss World 1972 had a total of 53 contestants. ^[3] Seven contestants did not arrive on time, and were disqualified from the event. ^{[3] [8]}

• Argentina – Olga Edith Cognini Ferrer
• Aruba – Sandra Werleman
• Australia – Belinda Green ^{[1] [2]}
• Austria – Ursula Pacher ^[2]
• Bahamas – Heather Cleare
• Belgium – Anne-Marie Roger
• Bermuda – Helen Brown
• Botswana – Agnes Motswere Letsebe
• Brazil – Ângela Maria Favi
• Canada – Bonny Brady
• Costa Rica – María Victoria Ross González
• Dominican Republic – Teresa Evangelina Medrano
• Ecuador – Patricia Falconí
• Finland – Anneli Björkling ^[3]
• France – Claudine Cassereau
• Gibraltar – Rosemarie Vivian Catania
• Greece – Helen Lykissa
• Guam – Maria Louise Pangelinan
• Holland – Monique Borgeld
• Honduras – Doris van Tuyl
• Hong Kong – Gay Mei-Lin
• Iceland – Rósa Helgadóttir
• India – Malathi Basappa ^[2]
• Ireland – Pauline Therese Fitzsimons
• Israel – Chana Ordan
• Italy – Laura Romano
• Jamaica – Gail Geraldeen Phillips
• Japan – Akiko Kajitani
• Liberia – Cecelia Armena King
• Malaysia – Janet Mok Swee Chin
• Malta – Jane Attard
• Mauritius – Marie Ange Bestel
• Mexico – Gloria Guadalupe Gutiérrez López
• New Zealand – Kristine Allan ^[9]
• Norway – Ingeborg Sørensen ^[2]
• Paraguay – Rosa Angélica Mussi
• Philippines – Evangeline Rosales Reyes ^[10]
• Portugal – Anita Marques
• Puerto Rico – Ana Nisi Goyco
• Seychelles – Jane Edna Straevens
• Singapore – Rosalind Lee Eng Neo
• South Africa ^[b] – Cynthia Shange
• South Africa – Stephanie Elizabeth Reinecke
• Spain – María del Rocío Martín Madrigal
• Sweden – Rita Berntsson
•   Switzerland – Astrid Vollenweider
• Thailand – Jintana Jitsophon
• Turkey – Feyzal Kibarer ^[11]
• United Kingdom – Jennifer Mary McAdam ^[3]
• United States – Lynda Carter ^[2]
• Venezuela – Amalia Heller
• West Germany – Heidemarie Renate Weber
• Yugoslavia – Biljana Ristić

Notes

1. Ceylon renamed to Sri Lanka
2. Black representative from South Africa competed as Miss Africa South in the pageant

References

1. "The Tuscaloosa News" . Retrieved 26 January 2016.
2. "The Bryan Times" . Retrieved 26 January 2016.
3. "The Sydney Morning Herald" . Retrieved 26 January 2016.
4. "Ellensburg Daily Record" . Retrieved 26 January 2016.
5. Strack, Harry R. (1978). Sanctions: The Case of Rhodesia. Syracuse University Press. p. 233. ISBN   9780815621614.
6. Trethowan, Anthony (2008). Delta Scout: Ground Coverage Operator. 30° South Publishers. p. 149. ISBN   9781920143213.
7. Sally-Ann Fawcett (20 April 2016). More Misdemeanours - And Other Beauty Queen Stories. Lulu Enterprises. ISBN   9781326634148. OL   35077796M.
8. "Bharat Sundari and Little Miss India". Women on the March. Vol. XVI. November 1972. p. 25. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
9. "COMPETITION 'PRETTY STIFF'". The Press . Christchurch, New Zealand. 1 December 1972. p. 5. Retrieved 2 January 2026– via Papers Past.
10. Burton-Titular, Joyce (1 October 2013). "From Vivien to Megan: The PH in Miss World history". Rappler . Archived from the original on 24 July 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
11. Tarihi, Güncelleme (4 May 2020). "Güzeller canlı yayında buluştu" [Beauties met on live broadcast]. Hürriyet (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2025.