Denise Marie Quiñones of Puerto Rico was crowned as the Miss Universe 2001 on 11 May in that year. She was crowned from amongst seventy seven contestants, by the Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta of India during the coronation ceremony of the 50th Miss Universe pageant, which was held at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. She was the fourth woman from the country to win the international pageant. The 36 year old is currently a model and an actress, currently putting up in Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic.