Michelle McLean was crowned Miss Universe

Miss Universe 1992

Miss Universe 1992, the 41st Miss Universe pageant, was held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand on May 8, 1992. 78 international beauties competed for the Miss Universe crown....

 in 1992. She was
19 years old when she represented Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

 and became the first and only woman from Namibia to win the crown.
Before she became Miss Universe, McLean competed in Miss World 1991

Miss World 1991

Miss World 1991, the 41st Miss World pageant, was held on December 28, 1991 in Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The winner was Ninibeth Beatriz Leal Jiménez representing Venezuela.-Results:-Order of Semi-finalists:# France# Turkey...

. In the preliminary competition she was tied in second place with a score of 51 along with Miss South Africa, behind the eventual winner, Venezuela's Ninibeth Leal

Ninibeth Leal

Ninibeth Beatriz Leal Jiménez is a model, businessperson and fourth Miss World titleholder from Venezuela.-Miss World:...

; McLean eventually finished in the top 5.
In the 1992 Miss Universe

Miss Universe 1992

Miss Universe 1992, the 41st Miss Universe pageant, was held at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Bangkok, Thailand on May 8, 1992. 78 international beauties competed for the Miss Universe crown....

 pageant she finished second in the preliminary with a score of 9.147, right behind Carolina Izsak

Carolina Izsak

Carolina Eva Izsák Keményfy is a Venezuelan beauty queen who competed in the 1992 Miss Universe pageant on May 8, 1992 and placed fourth after being the leader of the competition that night.-Early life:...

 of 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...

, who won all three preliminary competitions.