MOSCOW, September 19, Yulia Zachetova. When the first international beauty contest was held in the Belgian city of Spa 135 years ago, there was no talk of a swimsuit fashion show. Today the situation has changed, and among the winners of international shows there are also Russians. How their life turned out after the triumph is in the material.
Yulia Kurochkina: Miss World, who gave up fame
The first winner of the Miss World title from Russia in 1992 was Yulia Kurochkina. The organizers of the competition noticed an 18-year-old model from Shcherbinka near Moscow during a show of fur products.
The girl didn’t want to go to the show in South Africa, but her mother insisted that her daughter see the world. The family lived modestly, and the parents were unable to buy Yulia a dress for an international competition. A friend came to the rescue, and the hem was hemmed with school ribbons.
Having returned victorious, Kurochkina decided not to pursue a career in show business. She got married, gave birth to a daughter and headed a travel agency.
Oksana Fedorova: giving up the crown and a career on TV
The only Russian woman with the title “Miss Universe” is Oksana Fedorova. At the age of 24, a senior police lieutenant from St. Petersburg won a competition in Puerto Rico.
But she refused the crown to continue her legal education. Four months later, she was stripped of her title for failure to fulfill the terms of her contract.
Later, Fedorova nevertheless chose fame: she became the host of the television programs “Good Night, Kids!”, “Saturday Evening” and “Fort Boyard”, acted in films, published the book “Formula of Style”, participated in the shows “Dancing with the Stars” and “Mask” «. The beauty is married and has a son and daughter.
Ksenia Sukhinova: engineer with the title «Miss World»
The crown at the Miss World competition in South Africa in 2008 The Russian woman, 21-year-old Tyumen student Ksenia Sukhinova, won again. She admitted that she was happy to prove once again: Russian girls are the most beautiful in the world. She dedicated her victory to every citizen of the country and her grandmother.
Sukhinova was born into a family of oil workers in Nizhnevartovsk, and was involved in rhythmic gymnastics, biathlon, ballroom dancing and swimming. She moved to Tyumen to study as an IT systems management engineer at the Oil and Gas University. She graduated with a blue diploma, refusing any star preferences. There, in Tyumen, the girl began her modeling career at the local fashion theater.
After the competition, Ksenia continued to work as a model, was the face of the Eurovision music competition in Moscow, and starred in Dima Bilan's videos. In 2022, the beauty announced that she had become a mother.
Sofya Arzhakovskaya: the first Mrs. World from Russia
In Russia there are two winners of the international beauty contest for married women «Mrs. World». The first of them in 2006 was 18-year-old Sofya Arzhakovskaya, at that time the wife of politician Sergei Veremeenko. The show took place in the beauty’s hometown — St. Petersburg.
Arzhakovskaya dreamed of becoming a ballerina since childhood. She studied at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, at the Bashkir Choreographic School named after Nureyev, and performed in the main roles on the stage of the Bashkir Opera and Ballet Theater. At the same time, she participated in modeling competitions.
After the victory, the graceful beauty chose a film career. Today, the girl who took the pseudonym Sofya Skya has about two dozen roles under her belt, including in foreign films.
Skye played an anesthesiologist in the Russian film “Challenge” — the first feature film shot in space. As for her personal life: she is raising her son Sergei from her ex-husband. 
Victoria Radochinskaya: hurry to her son after the Mrs. World contest
Three years later, 31-year-old Victoria Radochinskaya from Rostov-on-Don won the title at a competition in Vietnam. After the victory, the beauty admitted that she dreams of quickly hugging her son Bogdan, whom she had not seen for more than a month because of the competition.
Radochinskaya worked as a model from the age of 16. By the time she took part in the show, which promotes family values, she had already been married for about ten years.
For the sake of motherhood, she left the podium for a while and got a job in an advertising company. The competition became her triumphant return to the world of beauty.
Elena Maksimova: Mrs. Universe, businesswoman and patriot
In 2007, the line of beauty contests was replenished with another one — “Mrs. Universe”. There is also a winner of this title in Russia: at the beginning of the year, 34-year-old Elena Maksimova from Izhevsk won the show.
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In everyday life, Maksimova manages a network of linguistic schools, raises two children, and is involved in charity work. At the competition, the Russian woman became an ambassador of her native Udmurtia: she treated other participants to chocolate dumplings with nuts.
Soon the beauty will have to pass on the title to the next winner of the Mrs. Universe pageant in the Philippines.