The Miss Universe 2009 Contestant, Alphabetically (by Country)

Miss Albania, Hasna Xhu

Miss Angola Nelsa Alves


Miss Argentina


Miss Aruba


Miss Australia


Miss Bahamas



Miss Belgium


Miss Bolivia


Miss Brazil

Miss Bulgaria


Miss Canada


Miss Cayman


Miss China



Miss Colombia


Miss Costarica


Miss Croatia


Miss Curacao


Miss Cyprus


Miss Czech


Miss Dominican


Miss Ecuador



Miss Egypt


Miss El Salvador


Miss Estonia


Miss Ethiopia


Miss Finland


Miss France


Miss Georgia


Miss Germany


Miss Ghana



Miss Great Britan


Miss Greece


Miss Guam


Miss Guatemala


Miss Guyana


Miss Honduras


Miss Hungary



Miss Iceland


Miss Indonesia


Miss Ireland


Miss Israel


Miss Italy



Miss India


Miss Jamaica


Miss Japan


Miss Korea



Miss Kosovo


Miss Lebanon


Miss Malaysia


Miss Mauritius


Miss Mexico


Miss Montenegro


Miss Namibia



Miss Netherlands



Miss New Zealand


Miss Nicaragua


Miss Nigeria


Miss Norway


Miss Panama



Miss Paraguay


Miss Peru



Miss Peuto Rico



Miss Philipines



Miss Poland



Miss Romania


Miss Russia



Miss Singapore


Miss Slovenia


Miss South Africa


Miss Sweden


Miss Turkey



Miss USA


Miss Serbia


Miss Slovak


Miss Spain


Miss Switzerland


Miss Tanzania



Miss Thailand


Miss Turks



Miss Ukraine


Miss Uruguay


Miss Venezuela


Miss Vietnam




Imperial Ballroom
Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas



The 58th Annual MISS UNIVERSE competition will be held LIVE from Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas on Sunday, August 23rd on NBC and Telemundo at 9 PM (ET).

The Miss Universe 2009 Contestants, Swimsuit

The Miss Universe 2009 Contestants, Swimming suit.

Miss Paraguay Universe 2009, Mareike Baumgarten.

The Miss Universe 2009 Contestants. Held on the paradise island Bahamas.

Miss Paraguay Universe 2009, Mareike Baumgarten.

Mareike Baumgarten , Miss Universo Paraguay 2009
Birth name: Mareike Baumgarten Oroa

Height: 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)

Eye color: Brown

Hair color: Brown

Title(s): Miss Paraguay Universe 2009

Competition(s): Miss Universo Paraguay 2009 (winner)
Miss Universe 2009 (contestant)

Wanna arm wrestle lady?

What do you get if you add arm wrestling plus fancy dress plus a few beers plus a shed-load of screaming women? The Collective of Lady Arm Wrestling, that's CLAW to you and me.

It all started three years ago in Virginia, USA and is spreading around the States faster than you say big guns pardner. Billy Hunt and Brian Wimer are making what looks like a great documentary, following the women around and putting together the story of how much money they are raising. Well, that is they are hoping to make that doco. They emailed me from Kickstarter - a website where creative types promote their plans and ask for mico-funding - and honestly, if the film is half as intriguing as their trailer, it's well worth a few dollars or euros or whatever your bank is stocking.

Their project home is here at CLAW  They're only looking for about $1,600 more, piece by piece building up to their five grand total. This is their idea:

UPDATE: CLAW reached their total and then some.

Adventure sports in Ireland

 It's a beautiful morning here in Ireland, summer may finally be here. And it's the start of a three-day weekend for us so lots of outdoor plans being made.

This is a tourism promo (from one of our many, many tourism boards) with shots of the adventure sports you can do in Ireland. Sometimes it's just good to be reminded of what is on our doorstep. Enjoy, and have a great weekend wherever you are! 

Dying to take part in sport?

Marcela Acuna, Argentina

How healthy is sport? Not something many of us question, everyone knows sport is good for you, right? But this article I read yesterday points out that maintaining a healthy weight for competition isn't always the same as being healthy. 

It's definitely something boxers struggle with, most have a "walk-around" weight which is significantly higher than their competitive weight, and the same appears to be true for other martial arts as well as sports like gymnastics. The author of that study (and studies she quotes) feels women suffer more from this than men, "Like the non-sports world, females are more affected than men."

That is something I would quibble with, she has clearly never spent time in a boxing gym. Every male boxer (well, the good ones!) knows their weight to the gram, knows the weight of their food, knows the effect of drinking 200mls of water vs 300mls before a weigh-in. I learnt more about food control and weight-loss from men than any women's magazine. Not saying all of it was necessarily healthy, but that's the story.

It would be interesting to do a comparative study between males taking part in weight-specific sports and males taking part in sports such as rugby or soccer where weight-loss is not so central. Or indeed if males in sports like American football or rugby are under the opposite pressure: to bulk up.

From what you know in your sports, do you think women are more prone to problems than men when it comes to weight?

NOTE: using Acuna's photo not meant in any way to imply she has weight problems, eating problems.