Sofia Rudieva

Sofia Andreevna Rudieva (Russian: София Андреевна Рудьева; born November 15, 1990) is a Russian model and beauty queen who is the winner of Miss Russia 2009. She will represent Russia in the Miss Universe 2009 pageant, to be held in August, 2009, in the Bahamas.

Sofia Rudieva was born in 1990 in Saint Petersburg to a family of artists. At first, she wanted to follow her parents' path, and studied at an art school for 10 years in her childhood. She then studied acting, until she became more confident in her beauty and joined a modelling agency when she was 15. She graduated from high school in 2008, and is planning to study at an university in the future. Prior to her crowning as Miss Russia 2009, she had already several years of experience in modeling business and had taken part in a number of professional fashion shows.

In March, 2009, she won the Miss Russia 2009 pageant, and was awarded with a $100,000 prize. She said she would spend most of her prize money to charity, for helping homeless animals.

She has been named Russia's representative in the Miss Universe 2009 contest, to be held in the Bahamas in August, 2009. She said that she was preparing seriously for the occasion, by taking more training in modelling and acting, doing sports and working to improve her already good English even further.

Sofia has said she feels that winning the crown to Russia would be important for her country. Being asked about the unique characteristics of Russian women, she replied: "I strongly believe that Russian women are strong in spirit. They can be both very strong and energetic on the one hand and tender and sweet wives and caring mothers, on the other. The Russian mother is the best in the world."

Natalie Glebova

Natalie Glebova, (born November 11, 1981) is a Russian Canadian beauty queen who has held the title Miss Universe 2005.

Glebova was born in Tuapse, Russia. She is a classical pianist and also has won various regional gymnastic championships. Prior to competing at Miss Universe, Glebova worked as a model and received her Bachelor of Commerce in Information Technology Management and Marketing at Ryerson University in Toronto. She has also worked as a motivational speaker for grade school and high school students.

Glebova currently resides in Thailand and is married to Paradorn Srichaphan. The couple, who met during the 2006 Thailand Open, became engaged in April 2007 and were married on November 29, 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand.

In 2008, Glebova joined The Amazing Race Asia 3 and she partnered with Pailin Rungratanasunthorn. They represented Thailand and came in 8th place.

In 2004, Glebova attempted to win the Miss Universe Canada pageant where she placed as 3rd runner-up. The eventual winner, Venessa Fisher, failed to place in the Miss Universe 2004 finals. Glebova competed again in January 2005, and won the title.

Glebova competed in the Miss Universe 2005 pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand in June 2005, where she became the fourth Canadian in ten years to make the initial cut of semi-finalists. She competed in the evening gown and swimsuit competitions, advancing to the top five where she competed in the final interview round. The final interview round was a tough selection; the strongest delegates who managed the Top 5 were Cynthia Olavarria of Puerto Rico, Laura Elizondo of Mexico, Renata Sone of Dominican Republic, and Monica Spear of Venezuela, who were all considered to be pageant powerhouses. At the conclusion of the pageant, Glebova survived the Latin onslaught and was crowned Miss Universe 2005 by outgoing titleholder Jennifer Hawkins of Australia. Glebova's win was Canada's second: Karen Dianne Baldwin of London, Ontario had won in 1982. Glebova and Baldwin graduated from the same high school, London Central Secondary School.

Oxana Fedorova

Oxana Fedorova (Oksana Fyodorova, Оксана Фёдорова in Russian) (born December 17, 1977) is a Russian Miss Universe winner (dethroned), police officer (rank of major), television hostess, actress, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Fedorova is a Russian woman who became the first Miss Russia to win the Miss Universe contest. She began in the entertainment business as a model and became Miss St. Petersburg in 1999 and Miss Russia in 2001, but declined to go to the Miss Universe 2001 pageant (where her runner-up Oxana Kalandyrets was a semifinalist).

Oxana Fedorova was born in Pskov, Russia, where she lived until she was 18. Fedorova is an only child, and she was brought up by her mother and maternal grandparents. According to Fedorova, her grandparents were very demanding of her.

Fedorova's parents divorced when she was three years old. She did not hear from her father since then. In 2005 Oxana tried to find her father, but discovered he had died.

Her father was a nuclear physicist, and her mother worked as a nurse at a psychiatric hospital (she is retired). In school, Fedorova played volleyball and her team won a championship in an urban tournament in 1995. At the police academy, Fedorova played the saxophone as a member of the brass band.

After graduating from the police academy with a red diploma, Fedorova worked as an inspector in the Pskov militia for six months. Following her time with the force, Fedorova moved to St. Petersburg to study at the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) University, where she worked as an investigator at the Pulkovo Transport Police whilst studying. Fedorova also began to work as a model and started to participate in beauty pageants. She was named Miss St. Petersburg 1999, Miss Kalokagathia 1999, Miss Fitness, Miss Fortune, and Miss Russia 2001. Fedorova graduated from the MVD University with a gold medal in 2000. After that, Fedorova entered a post graduate course at the same university. While Oxana wrote her dissertation on "Regulation of Private Detective and Security Activity in the Russian Federation," she taught Civil Law to younger students. Fedorova's biggest fan base was among police colleagues.