Dayana Mendoza

Dayana Sabrina Mendoza Moncada (born June 1, 1986 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a model, Miss Venezuela 2007, and winner of Miss Universe 2008.

On 2001 Mendoza signed with Elite Model Management and modeled in Italy, France, United States, England, Greece, Spain, Germany, Mexico and Peru for Versace, Roberto Cavalli and others fashion designers. She speaks Spanish, English and Italian.

Dayana beat out 27 other candidates to win Miss Venezuela 2007 on September 13, 2007, and became only the second woman from the Amazonas state to win (the first being Carolina Izsak in 1991). She represented Venezuela in the Miss Universe 2008 pageant in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 13, 2008 and came away with the crown, the first Venezuelan to do so in 12 years. Dayana relinquished that crown on August 23, 2009, when another Venezuelan beauty, Stefania Fernandez, was crowned Miss Universe 2009.