Miss Russia, Oxana Fedorova, is dethroned

Miss Russia, Oxana Fedorova, is dethroned

Fedorova denied the pregnancy rumors and stated that she voluntarily gave up her crown for personal reasons, mainly because she wanted to finish her law degree. Officially, she was dethroned for failing to perform the numerous duties expected of a Miss Universe titleholder. At the time she stated in an interview that she had declined to perform her duties because she was so insulted by her treatment on The Howard Stern Show. She blamed the pageant organizers for not warning her of the frequently profane Stern commentary, of which she, as a foreigner, had no prior knowledge. The crown was passed on to Panama's Justine Pasek, the first runner-up, who consequently became her country's first Miss Universe.

Fedorova was the first Miss Universe who officially did not finish her reign (although the very first Miss Universe, Armi Kuusela, gave up her title a month before her reign ended and Amparo Muñoz of Spain was "unofficially" dethroned in 1974). Although the Miss Universe Organization refuses to recognize Fedorova as a former Miss Universe, she is generally regarded as one by the public.

Fedorova obtained a Ph.D in Civil Law in December 2002. Fedorova is continuing her career as a police officer and was promoted to the ranks of Captain in September 2002 and Major in 2005.

In recent years, Fedorova decided to become active in Russian politics. She ran as a candidate for the Russian Party of Life in December 2003 for the State Duma elections, but was defeated.

In March 2005, Fedorova again ran for a political position, this time in the regional Voronezh, Duma elections, but was once more defeated at the polls.

In August 2005, several Russian newspapers, including Komsomolskaya Pravda, reported that they expected Fedorova would try to win a seat in the upper house representing the Tula region. However, Fedorova did not run, as she told news media that she had put her political career on hold.

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