) is the winner of the Miss Universo Italia 2008 pageant that was held at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Riccione

Riccione

Riccione is a comune in the Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. As of 2007 Riccione had an estimated population of 34,868.-History:...

, Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna

Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....

 on May 31, 2008. She represented Italy at the Miss Universe 2008

Miss Universe 2008

Miss Universe 2008, the 57th Miss Universe pageant, was held at the Crown Convention Center in the Diamond Bay Resort, Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008...

 pageant in Nha Trang

Nha Trang

Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the North by Ninh Hoà district, on the East by the South China Sea, on the South by Cam Ranh town and on the West by Diên Khánh district...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 on July 14. She placed in the top 10, ranking 9th at the end of the competition. In 2006, she had entered the Miss Italia

Miss Italia

Miss Italia is the name of a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest in 1939 many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film.-History:...

 pageant as Miss Lombardia and had placed among the top 10 there as well.

Claudia's scores were 7.671 in the swimsuit competition (10th) and 7.729 in the evening gown competition (9th and her final official placement). During the stay in Vietnam for the pageant, Claudia and Miss Venezuela

Miss Venezuela

The Miss Venezuela contest is the national beauty pageant of Venezuela and has been held since 1952. It is responsible for selecting the country's representatives to the Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss Earth and Miss International pageants .Under the direction of Osmel Sousa, Venezuela has...

 Dayana Mendoza

Dayana Mendoza

Dayana Sabrina Mendoza Moncada is a model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the titles of Miss Venezuela 2007 and Miss Universe 2008.-Personal life:...

 were roommates, and became close friends. After Mendoza's win, Claudia was invited to Caracas

Caracas

Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...

, Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

 and appeared on television along with Mendoza herself during Sabado Sensacional

Sabado Sensacional

Súper Sábado Sensacional is a Spanish-language variety show created in Venezuela, and established on Radio Caracas Television in 1968. The show later moved to Venevisión network in 1971...

 on the Venevision

Venevisión

Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...

 channel as part of a show celebrating Mendoza's victory.

Claudia stands 5 ft 8 in (1.73m) and she's a Libra

Libra (astrology)

Libra is the seventh astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Libra. In astrology, Libra is considered a "masculine", positive sign. It is also considered an air sign and is one of four cardinal signs...

. She speaks English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, she enjoys music, dancing, reading, volleyball and working out and her dream is to someday become the editor of a fashion magazine.