Windsor’s Stepien among Top 10 at Miss Universe
Model and St. Clair engineering student has strong showing among 92 entrants
Windsor’s Marta Stepien finished as a Top 10 finalist at the Miss Universe pageant Monday in Bangkok where the Philippines’ Catriona Gray was named Miss Universe 2018, delighting her homenation.
Stepien, the 24-year-old Miss Universe Canada, was competing against 92 other contestants in Thailand. Stepien was born in Poland, but grew up in Windsor. She is a model and an engineering student at St. Clair College where she has a 3.96 grade point average. She has a strong interest in genetics and immunology and has worked as an applied researcher. In a message posted Monday afternoon on her Facebook page with a photo of her in a beige dress from the final round, Stepien wrote “Thank you” followed by a Canadian flag and a heart symbol. Ste pi en, an international model for 10 years, has travelled the globe, visiting Poland, France, England, Germany, South Korea, Switzerland and Colombia and Japan— where she has worked as a government-appointed Japanese tourism ambassador.
Gray wore a sparkling red dress that she said was inspired by a vol- cano in the Philippines as she was handed the crown to the delight of a roaring crowd in the Thai capital that generally favoured southeast Asian contestants.
The 24-year-old singer and model said she wore red because “when I was 13, my mom said she had a dream that I would win Miss Universe in a red dress.” She said her mom cried when they saw each other after she won the competition, the 67th Miss Universe pageant.
Gray edged out first runner-up Tamaryn Green of South Africa and third-place Sthefany Gutierrez of Venezuela. She succeeds Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters of South Africa.