Christina Sawaya from Lebanon was crowned Miss International 2002 on 30th September 2002 in Tokyo, Japan. She was 22 years of age when she was crowned the Miss International 2002. Christina Sawaya is a Lebanese beauty queen. As part of her modelling career, Christina entered a series of pageants between 1998 and 2002 in which she became the winner of "Miss University" Lebanon in 1998, and was chosen as "Top Lebanon Modeling 1999". In 2001, Sawaya competed with 19 women to become Miss Lebanon 2001, where she also became eligible to enter in the Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International pageants. She represented her country in the 2001 Miss World pageant, wherein she was unplaced. But at the Miss Universe 2002 Pageant, Sawaya decided to drop out of the competition after stating that she would not compete in a pageant with Miss Israel, Yamit Har-Noy. She went on to win the Miss International 2002 beauty pageant in Tokyo on September 30, 2002. Sawaya was chosen as Miss International among beauties from 51 countries. She also became the first Miss International of Middle Eastern descent. Christina Sawaya is a conservative Catholic Christian that comes from Lebanon, the only Arab country where the president is Christian by the constitution.