Miss USA 2002, the 51st Miss USA pageant, was held at Genesis Convention Center in Gary, Indiana on March 1, 2002. The event was won by Shauntay Hinton of the District of Columbia, who was crowned by outgoing queen Kandace Krueger of Texas.
Hinton was the first African-American woman to win the pageant since Chelsi Smith held the title in 1995, and was the first titleholder from Washington, DC since 1964.
The Miss USA 2002 delegates were:
This became the first win for the District of Columbia in 38 years, when Bobbie Johnson won Miss USA 1964.
Kansas equaled its highest placement at Miss USA since 1996.
Indiana had its highest placement since 1981.
Minnesota had its highest placement since 1977.
Connecticut placed for the first time since 1969 and had its highest ranking since 1966.
This is the first time in pageant history that four delegates in the Top 5 were African-American.
This is the second year in a row and third time since 1995 a Miss Teen USA state delegate did not win or inherit the Miss USA title.
Two Triple Crown winners, women who have held state titles for Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss America, were in the pageant.
Kelly Lloyd (2nd Runner-Up) -- Miss Indiana Teen USA 1993 (1st Runner-Up at Miss Teen USA 1993), Miss Indiana 1999 and Miss Indiana USA 2002
Allison Alderson -- Miss Tennessee Teen USA 1994, Miss Tennessee 1999 and Miss Tennessee USA 2002.
Controversy erupted over the choice of swimsuits for the swimsuit final competition. Six of the 51 delegates chose an all-red one-piece, while the rest wore a two-piece option. The New York Post reported one contestant, Tarah Marie Peters of California, had points deducted by one judge because of her choice of a one-piece suit, thus eliminating her from the top five contestants. She was the only one of the top twelve who wore the one-piece option.
Ten delegates had previously competed in either the Miss Teen USA or Miss America pageants, including the two Triple Crown winners who had competed in both. One delegate later won a Miss America state title.
Delegates who had previously held a Miss Teen USA state title were:
Kelly Lloyd (Indiana) - Miss Indiana Teen USA 1993 (1st runner-up at Miss Teen USA 1993)
Nicole Bigham (Pennsylvania) - Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 1994
Allison Alderson (Tennessee) - Miss Tennessee Teen USA 1994 (Top 6 finalist at Miss Teen USA 1994)
Melana Scantlin (Missouri) - Miss Missouri Teen USA 1995 (Top 12 semi-finalist at Miss Teen USA 1995)
Tara Tucker (Alabama) - Miss Alabama Teen USA 1997
Alita Dawson (Connecticut) - Miss Connecticut Teen USA 1997
Elizabeth Arnold (Kentucky) - Miss Kentucky Teen USA 1998
Christine Olejniczak (Alaska) - Miss Alaska Teen USA 2000
Delegates who had previously held a Miss America state title or would later win one were:
Keely Gaston (Colorado) - Miss Colorado 1998
Heather Soriano (Mississippi) - Miss Mississippi 1999
Kelly Lloyd (Indiana) - Miss Indiana 1999 (Albert A. Marks Jr. Interview award)
Allison Alderson (Tennessee) - Miss Tennessee 1999
Audra Paquette (New Hampshire) - Miss New Hampshire 2005
Delegates who participate in other beauty pageant later are:
Brooke Elizabeth Angus (Vermont) - Representative of United States in Miss World 2006.
Tom Brady
Joyce Brothers
Willa Ford
Kim Powers
Nikki Ziering
