{{short description|Beauty pageant edition}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2015}} {{Infobox beauty pageant | winner = [[Belinda Green]]<ref name="google.com">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19721202&id=bhgfAAAAIBAJ&pg=1011,129312&hl=en|title=''The Tuscaloosa News''|access-date=26 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="google.com1">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=799&dat=19721202&id=rrJPAAAAIBAJ&pg=783,4606536&hl=en |title=Australian lass is new Miss World |date=2 December 1972 |location=London |work=[[The Bryan Times]] |access-date=23 February 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126131047/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=799&dat=19721202&id=rrJPAAAAIBAJ&pg=783,4606536&hl=en |archive-date=26 January 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref> | represented = Australia | date = 1 December 1972 | presenters = {{Hlist|[[Michael Aspel]]|[[David Vine]]}} | venue = [[Royal Albert Hall]], [[London]], United Kingdom | broadcaster = [[BBC]] | entrants = 53 | placements = 15 | debuts = {{Hlist|Botswana|Singapore}} | returns = {{Hlist|Costa Rica|Honduras|Hong Kong|Liberia}} | withdraws = {{Hlist|Ceylon|Cyprus|Guyana|Luxembourg|Nicaragua|Panama|South Korea|Trinidad and Tobago|Tunisia}} | before = [[Miss World 1971|1971]] | next = [[Miss World 1973|1973]] }}
'''Miss World 1972''' was the 22nd edition of the [[Miss World]] pageant, held at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] in [[London]], United Kingdom<ref name="google.com1"/>, on 1 December 1972. Fifty-three delegates vied for the crown won by [[Belinda Green]] of Australia.<ref name="google.com"/><ref name="google.com1"/><ref name="TSMH-1"/><ref name="google.com2">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19721204&id=d4BUAAAAIBAJ&pg=6864,3487285&hl=en|title=''Ellensburg Daily Record''|access-date=26 January 2016}}</ref> Green became the second Australian winner of the crown in just four years. Since the reigning [[Miss World 1971]], [[Lúcia Petterle]] had suffered a broken arm and was unable to travel to London, [[Eric Morley]]'s wife [[Julia Morley|Julia]] crowned the new Miss World 1972.
== Selection of participants == Contestants from fifty-three countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant.
== Debuts, returns, and, withdrawals == This edition marked the debut of Botswana and Singapore, and the return of Honduras, which last competed in [[Miss World 1967|1967]], Costa Rica in [[Miss World 1969|1969]] and Hong Kong and Liberia in [[Miss World 1970|1970]].
Ceylon,{{Efn|Ceylon renamed to [[Sri Lanka]]}} Cyprus, Guyana, Luxembourg, Nicaragua, Panama, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago and Tunisia withdrew from the competition for unknown reasons. Maria Koutrouza of Cyprus and Chung Keum-ok of South Korea were supposed to arrive in the host country, but they never showed up. Martha Lucia Cardozo Cruz of Colombia and Regina Melgar de Garcia of Panama both arrived the day before the election, which was too late to compete, while Helga Vera Johns of Rhodesia, [[Miss Rhodesia|Miss Rhodesia 1972]] was not allowed to compete due to her having British citizenship. She would later try to compete again in [[Miss World 1975|1975]] as [[Miss South Africa]], but was barred again because she hadn't lived in South Africa for at least five years as per the requirements for the Miss World Organization.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVt0AAAAMAAJ&q=Miss+Rhodesia|title=Sanctions: The Case of Rhodesia|last=Strack|first=Harry R.|date=1978|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=9780815621614|pages=233|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cCCiE0_RDSMC&q=miss+rhodesia&pg=PA149|title=Delta Scout: Ground Coverage Operator|last=Trethowan|first=Anthony|date=2008|publisher=30° South Publishers|isbn=9781920143213|pages=149|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title = More Misdemeanours - And Other Beauty Queen Stories|publication-date = Apr 20, 2016|ol = 35077796M|isbn = 9781326634148|publisher = Lulu Enterprises|author = Sally-Ann Fawcett}}</ref>
== Results == [[File:Miss World 1972 Map.PNG|thumb|250px|Countries and territories which sent delegates and results for Miss World 1972<ref name="TSMH-1">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19721203&id=aPljAAAAIBAJ&pg=1674,991165&hl=en|title=''The Sydney Morning Herald''|access-date=26 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="google.com2"/>]]
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%;" |- ! Placement ! Contestant |- | Miss World 1972 | * {{flag|Australia}} – [[Belinda Green]]<ref name="google.com"/><ref name="google.com1"/><ref name="google.com2"/> |- | 1st runner-up | * {{flag|Norway}} – [[Ingeborg Sørensen]]<ref name="google.com1"/> |- | 2nd runner-up | * {{flag|Israel}} – Chana Ordan<ref name="google.com1"/> |- | 3rd runner-up | * {{flag|Austria}} – Ursula Pacher<ref name="google.com1"/> |- | 4th runner-up | * {{flag|India}} – [[Malathi Basappa]]<ref name="google.com1"/> |- | Top 7 | * {{flag|Finland}} – [[Anneli Björkling]]<ref name="TSMH-1"/> * {{flag|United Kingdom}} – Jenny McAdam<ref name="TSMH-1"/> |- | Top 15 | * {{flag|Guam}} – Marylou Pangelinan * {{flag|Mexico}} – Gloria Mayo * {{flag|Philippines}} – Evangeline Reyes * {{flag|Seychelles|1961}} – Jane Stravens * {{flag|South Africa|1928}} – Stephanie Reinecke * {{flag|Thailand}} – Jintana Jitsophon * {{flag|United States}} – [[Lynda Carter]] * {{flag|Yugoslavia}} – Biljana Ristić |}
== Judges == A panel of judges evaluated the contestants' performances.<ref name="TSMH-1"/> [[Peter Sellers]] was one of the judges.<ref name="TSMH-1"/>
==Contestants== Miss World 1972 had a total of 53 contestants.<ref name="TSMH-1"/> Seven contestants did not arrive on time, and were disqualified from the event.<ref name="TSMH-1"/><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=November 1972 |title=Bharat Sundari and Little Miss India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iwdDAAAAYAAJ&dq=Firoza%20Cooper%20miss%20india&pg=RA11-PT66 |access-date=3 April 2024 |magazine=Women on the March |pages=25 |language=en |volume=XVI}}</ref> {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * {{flag|Argentina|alt}} – Olga Edith Cognini Ferrer * {{flag|Netherlands Antilles|1959|name=Aruba}} – Sandra Werleman * {{flag|Australia}} – [[Belinda Green]]<ref name="google.com"/><ref name="google.com1"/> * {{flag|Austria}} – Ursula Pacher<ref name="google.com1"/> * {{flag|Bahamas|1953}} – Heather Cleare * {{flag|Belgium}} – Anne-Marie Roger * {{flag|Bermuda}} – Helen Brown * {{flag|Botswana}} – Agnes Motswere Letsebe * {{flag|Brazil|1968}} – Ângela Maria Favi * {{flag|Canada}} – Bonny Brady * {{flag|Costa Rica}} – María Victoria Ross González * {{flag|Dominican Republic|civil}} – Teresa Evangelina Medrano * {{flag|Ecuador}} – Patricia Falconí * {{flag|Finland}} – [[Anneli Björkling]]<ref name="TSMH-1"/> * {{flag|France}} – Claudine Cassereau * {{flag|Gibraltar|ensign}} – Rosemarie Vivian Catania * {{flag|Greece|1970}} – Helen Lykissa * {{flag|Guam}} – Maria Louise Pangelinan * {{flag|Holland}} – Monique Borgeld * {{flag|Honduras|1949}} – Doris van Tuyl * {{flag|British Hong Kong|name=Hong Kong}} – Gay Mei-Lin * {{flag|Iceland}} – Rósa Helgadóttir * {{flag|India}} – [[Malathi Basappa]]<ref name="google.com1"/> * {{flag|Ireland}} – Pauline Therese Fitzsimons * {{flag|Israel}} – Chana Ordan * {{flag|Italy}} – Laura Romano * {{flag|Jamaica}} – Gail Geraldeen Phillips * {{flag|Japan|1947}} – Akiko Kajitani * {{flag|Liberia}} – Cecelia Armena King * {{flag|Malaysia}} – Janet Mok Swee Chin * {{flag|Malta}} – Jane Attard * {{flag|Mauritius}} – Marie Ange Bestel * {{flag|Mexico}} – Gloria Guadalupe Gutiérrez López * {{flag|New Zealand}} – Kristine Allan<ref>{{cite news |title=COMPETITION ‘PRETTY STIFF’ |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/press/1972/12/01/5 |work=[[The Press]] |page=5 |access-date=2 January 2026 |date=1 December 1972 |location=[[Christchurch]], New Zealand |via=[[National Library of New Zealand#Papers Past|Papers Past]]}}</ref> * {{flag|Norway}} – [[Ingeborg Sørensen]]<ref name="google.com1"/> * {{flag|Paraguay}} – Rosa Angélica Mussi * {{flag|Philippines|1936}} – Evangeline Rosales Reyes<ref>{{Cite news|last=Burton-Titular|first=Joyce|date=1 October 2013|title=From Vivien to Megan: The PH in Miss World history|url=https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/pageants/40304-philippines-miss-world-history/|access-date=28 April 2025|website=[[Rappler]]|language=en|archive-date=24 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240724212547/https://onedio.com/haber/hepsi-zirveye-cikti-ancak-hepsi-orada-kalamadi-turkiye-nin-son-25-yildaki-turkiye-guzelleri-simdi-ne-yapiyor-860708|url-status=live}}</ref> * {{flag|Portugal}} – Anita Marques * {{flag|Puerto Rico}} – [[Ana Nisi Goyco]] * {{flag|Seychelles|1961}} – Jane Edna Straevens * {{flag|Singapore}} – Rosalind Lee Eng Neo * {{flag|South Africa|1928}}{{Efn|Black representative from South Africa competed as Miss Africa South in the pageant}} – [[Cynthia Shange]] * {{flag|South Africa|1928}} – Stephanie Elizabeth Reinecke * {{flag|Spain|1945}} – María del Rocío Martín Madrigal * {{flag|Sweden}} – Rita Berntsson * {{flag|Switzerland}} – Astrid Vollenweider * {{flag|Thailand}} – Jintana Jitsophon * {{flag|Turkey}} – Feyzal Kibarer<ref>{{Cite news|date=4 May 2020|last=Tarihi|first=Güncelleme|title=Güzeller canlı yayında buluştu|trans-title=Beauties met on live broadcast|url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/galeri-1929dan-gunumuze-turkiye-guzelleri-41508916|access-date=29 April 2025|website=[[Hürriyet]]|language=tr|archive-date=2 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102125519/https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/galeri-1929dan-gunumuze-turkiye-guzelleri-41508916|url-status=live}}</ref> * {{flag|United Kingdom}} – Jennifer Mary McAdam<ref name="TSMH-1"/> * {{flag|United States}} – [[Lynda Carter]]<ref name="google.com1"/> * {{flag|Venezuela|1954}} – [[Amalia Heller]] * {{flag|West Germany}} – Heidemarie Renate Weber * {{flag|Yugoslavia}} – Biljana Ristić {{div col end}}
== Notes == {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Miss World}} {{Miss World 1972 delegates}}
[[Category:Miss World]] [[Category:1972 in London]] [[Category:1972 beauty pageants]] [[Category:Beauty pageants in England]] [[Category:Events at the Royal Albert Hall]] [[Category:December 1972 in Europe]]