Katherine Espín of Ecuador was crowned Miss Earth 2016 at the pageant's grand coronation night on October 29, 2016, Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Manila, Philippines, succeeding Filipina beauty queen Angelia Ong.
The Philippines' Imelda Schweighart failed to make it past the first cut, while Sweden's Cloie Syquia Skarne, the half-sister of actress and television host KC Concepcion, finished in the Top 8.
Schweighart was gunning for an unprecedented third straight Miss Earth crown for the Philippines after Ong and 2014 titleholder Jamie Herrell.
This is the second time Ecuador has won the Manila-based pageant. The 23-year-old Katherine said she joined the beauty contest to forward her advocacy of instilling in young students the importance of taking care of the environment.
"I chose this because I believe that the best age to teach a person to have environmental conscience is at an early age because on their growing years they will learn to have respect towards the environment which will help to the future generations," she explained.
"I truly believe that there should exist on every academic pensum an environmental class and I will work hard on it to make it possible."
Miss Earth Air: Michelle Gomez of Colombia
Miss Earth Water: Stephanie De Zorzi of Venezuela
Miss Earth Fire: Bruna Zanardo of Brazil
Top 4
Ecuador
Brazil
Venezuela
Colombia
Top 8
Vietnam
Venezuela
Russia
Sweden
USA
Brazil
Colombia
Ecuador
Top 16
Colombia
South Korea
Northern Ireland
Italy
Venezuela
England
Brazil
Vietnam
Macau
Russia
Mexico
South Africa
Ecuador
Australia
Sweden
USA
Special awards
Best eco-video: Moldova
Eco-warrior: Wales
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Katherine Elizabeth Espin Gómez ( La Troncal , Ecuador , 15 of April of 1993 ) is a model and queen of Ecuadorian beauty famous for being the winner of Miss Earth 2016 , the second woman in her country to obtain the title
Espin was born in Canton La Troncal , in Ecuador , at age 9 moved to New York , United States for work of his parents, he lived six years there, he received numerous academic awards during their stay, in addition to sports awards and of Science. At age 11 Espin was an independent girl, since he moved alone from school to home. A sad episode of his life was when at age 13 he suffered from facial paralysis .
His career in beauty pageants began in 2013 , when he was the representative of his country in Reinado Internacional del Café 2013 , whose participation was unsuccessful, then in the same year he was a finalist and aspiring to become Ecuador 's representative to Miss World , at the national contest she was won by Párraga Laritza. Two years later, in 2015 he participated in Miss Bikini Universe 2015, where he was placed as first runner of the contest.
The 8 of August of 2016 the directive of the franchise Miss Earth Ecuador announced that Katherine Espin will represent that country in the 16th edition of Miss Earth to be held in Pasay City , Philippines .
During his stay in the contest was one of the most prominent figures among the candidates, winning numerous competitions in the pre-final night competitions, earning three gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze medal, topping the medal table of the contest , besides obtaining the third place in national costumes of the American group, won the challenge of the favorite candidate of the press with Imelda Schweighart who was the representative of the Philippines , he won the challenge evening dress and competition dress for group 3 took second place in competition swimwear for him same group, plus get special prizes, including Miss Phoenix Petroleum, Miss Earth Hannnah and Miss Marco Polo, all these achievements was the direct key that allowed him access to round of the semifinals along with 15 other candidates.
On the final night Espín was the great figure of the contest, first paraded in swimsuit, then rank among the 8 best and show off the evening dress, until finally ranked among the top 4 to the round of questions the jury; finally he unveiled positions: Miss Fire was to Bruna Zanardo of Brazil , Miss Water Stephanie Zorzi of Venezuela , Miss Air for Michelle Gomez of Colombia , and finally Katherine spin won the contest Miss Earth , the second woman in her country the coveted title, the first was won by Olga Álava in Miss Earth 2011 .