Miss Belize rated a 65-1 shot in Miss Universe pageant

On Monday night in Bangkok she goes up against eighty other young women all vying for the title of Miss Universe. We know that however beautiful and talented she may be, the odds against Belize’s Andrea Elrington are stiff…but just how stiff we’re not sure… at least until today.

The enterprising folks at sportsbook.com, which claims to be the world’s largest bookmaking and gambling operation, have released their betting odds on the event… and guess what: Miss Belize may be a long-shot, but not as long as you’d think.

The handicappers at Sportsbook make her a sixty-five to one shot. That may not make her a shoo-in, like twelve to one favourites Miss Dominican Republic and Miss Puerto Rico, but it does put her ahead of two hundred and fifty to one Miss Angola; two hundred to one Miss Guyana; one hundred and fifty to one Miss Zambia; and one hundred and twenty-five to one Miss Jamaica; not to mention the one hundred to one shots from Great Britain, Barbados, and the Bahamas. In fact, out of the eighty-one entries, Andrea is given better odds than forty-six of her colleagues, worse odds than only thirty-two, and at sixty-five to one, ranks on par with Miss Chile and Miss Ukraine.

Since the event’s inception in 1952, the United States has won seven times, Puerto Rico and Venezuela four each, and Sweden three. Belize’s best showing came in 1978 when Sarita Acosta was selected as one of ten semi-finalists.