Teenager Whitney is fairest of them all

Whitney Toyloy, aged 18, from Yverdon in western Switzerland was elected the new Miss Switzerland on Saturday at a televised gala event in Lugano.

The youngest of 16 competitors, Toyloy has a multicultural background, with her ancestors coming from the United States, China, Panama and Switzerland.

The new Miss, who still attends school, is 177cm tall and has vital statistics of 82-60-90.

Twenty-year-old Rekha Datta, a bank employee from Winkel near Zurich, came second, while Lisa Panigada from canton Ticino, who runs a cosmetic salon and is 22, came third.

A jury of photographers also chose Toyloy, who wants to become a lawyer after her studies, as the most photogenic candidate.

Twenty-one-year-old Amanda Ammann, who gave up her crown after a year in office, said she was “extremely sad” that her duties as Miss Switzerland were at an end.

Over the past year, she is said to have earned a total of SFr500,000 ($458,505).