MANILA (Updated) -- French beauty queen Iris Mittenaere was crowned Miss Universe 2016.
The 24-year-old Dental Surgery student bested 85 entrants from around the world during the pageant held Monday, January 30, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines.
Maxine Medina of the Philippines finished in the Top 6 of the contest.
In the final question and answer round, Mittenaere spoke about how she overcame her failures.
She said that if one fails, he or she must learn to stand up and try again.
"I failed several times in my life. I think when you fail, you have to be elevated and you have to try again and keep going. If tonight I am not the winner, I am still honored to be one of the three finalists. I think I have failed before but for me, this is a great first opportunity," Mittenaere said.
The Lille native is the second representative of her country to win the Miss Universe title after Christiane Martel in 1953.
Haiti's Raquel Pelissier and Andrea Tovar from Colombia clinched the first and second runners up, respectively.
Pelissier, an earthquake survivor, surprised and impressed many in the competition.
The 25-year-old said that after surviving the January 2010 magnitude 7 earthquake that hit the town of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, she never thought of eventually fulfilling her dreams of joining the Miss Universe.
"I thought I was failing myself because I was not living my dreams, I was living day by day. It was a bad event but I chose to be a very positive person and learned a great lesson from it because I am here today and I am living my dream," she said.
Philippines' bet Medina failed to enter the Top 3 semifinal list of the competition.
The 26-year-old Interior Design graduate impressed the judges and home crowd during the swimsuit and evening gown competition.
In the question-and-answer portion before the Top 3 was announced, Medina was asked, "What is the most significant change you’ve seen in the world the last 10 years?"
She replied, "In the last 10 years of being here in the world is that I saw the people bringing in one event like this in Miss Universe and it’s something big to us that we are one. As one nation, we are all together. Thank you. Maraming salamat po."
Even though Medina failed to win a back-to-back title for the country, pageant fans and enthusiasts were still cheering her name inside the venue.
Malacañang congratulated Medina for making it to the Top 6 of the 65th Miss Universe held this year in the country.
"We congratulate Maria Mika Maxine Medina for making it to the Top 6. She represented the Philippines well in the international scene," Abella said in a statement.
The other candidates who made it to the Top 6 were Miss Thailand Chalita Sansuane and Miss Kenya Mary Esther Were.
Abella also extended Malacanang's best wishes to this year's winner, Mittenaere.
He said Mittenaere "brought tremendous joy to her people by representing France well on the international stage."
"Congratulations to the new Miss Universe, Iris Mittenaere of France. People of France are rejoicing. Truly, this is a proud moment for their country," Abella said.
"Iris brought tremendous joy to her people by representing France well on the international stage with her winning grace, regal bearing and inspiring answer. She has won not only the nod of the judges but the affection of the entire world as well," he added.
The 65th Miss Universe pageant was hosted by American television personality Steve Harvey. (VoxPop Philippines)