Vanessa Fernandes

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Vanessa Fernandes

Medal record
Competitor for  Portugal
Women's triathlon
Olympic Games
Silver 2008 Beijing Women's race
ITU World Championships
Gold 2007 Hamburg Elite women's race
Silver 2006 Lausanne Elite women's race
Bronze 2003 Queenstown Junior women's race
ITU Triathlon World Cup
Gold 2006 Overall World Cup
Gold 2007 Overall World Cup
European Championships
Gold 2003 Carlsbad Junior women's race
Gold 2004 Tiszaujvaros U-23 women's race
Gold 2004 Valencia Elite women's race
Gold 2005 Sofia U-23 women's race
Gold 2005 Lausanne Elite women's race
Gold 2006 Rijeka U-23 women's race
Gold 2006 Autun Elite women's race
Gold 2007 Copenhagen Elite women's race
Gold 2008 Lisbon Elite women's race
Gold 2008 Pulpi U-23 women's race
Bronze 2002 Gyor Junior women's race
Women's duathlon
ITU Duathlon World Championships
Gold 2007 Gyor Elite women's race
Gold 2008 Rimini Elite women's race
ETU Duathlon European Championships
Gold 2006 Rimini Elite women's race
Bronze 2002 Zeitz Junior women's race
Fernandes finishing second in Lausanne 2006.

Vanessa de Sousa Fernandes (Portuguese pronunciation: [vɐˈnɛsɐ fɨɾˈnɐ̃dɨʃ]; born September 14, 1985) is a Portuguese athlete from Perosinho, Vila Nova de Gaia and a former triathlon European and World champion. She won the European Triathlon Championships five consecutive years (5 elite and 3 under-23 titles), beginning in 2004, and on September 1, 2007, she became World champion for the first time, in Hamburg, Germany, managing to grab the only title (apart from the Olympic sceptre) missing from her career.

In 1999, Fernandes was introduced to triathlon by her father Venceslau Fernandes, a former professional cyclist and winner of the 1984 Volta a Portugal. She competed for her local triathlon club and then for Belenenses where she became world champion of under-23. Later in 2005, Vanessa joined Sport Lisboa e Benfica and represents the club to this day. Occasionally, Fernandes enters cross country events. Fernandes competed at the Olympic Games for the first time in 2004. On the second Olympic triathlon competition, at age eighteen, she finished in eighth place with a total time of 2:06:15.39.

In June 2006, she won the International Triathlon Union World Cup, ranking number one in the world.[1] In September, she equaled Australian Emma Carney's record number of consecutive wins in the World Cup, with a twelfth victory at the Beijing leg. Later that year, Fernandes was awarded with the "Best Female Athlete of the Year" prize from CNID (Clube Nacional de Imprensa Desportiva; English: Sports Press National Club) at its annual sports gala. In 2008, she won her 5th-in-a-row Elite European Championships title, at home in Lisbon.

In August 2008, she finished second in the Beijing Olympic Games, winning the first olympic medal in her career.

Achievements

2001

  • 18th – European Championships (Carlsbad, Czech Republic) – junior
  • 2nd – European Duathlon Championships (Mafra, Portugal) – junior (team)

2002

  • World Cup:
    • 34th (Tiszaujvaros, Hungary)
    • 29th (Nice, France)
    • 12th (Funchal, Portugal)
  • 4th – World Championships (Cancún, Mexico) – junior
  • 3rd – European Championships (Győr, Hungary) – junior
  • 3rd – European Duathlon Championships (Zeitz, Germany) – junior

2003

2004

  • 1st – Portugal National Championships
  • World Cup:
  • 5th – World Championships (Funchal, Portugal)
  • 8th – Olympic Games (Athens, Greece)
  • 1st – European Under-23 Championships (Tiszaujvaros, Hungary)
  • 1st – European Championships (Valencia, Spain)

2005

2006

2007

  • World Cup:
  • 1st – World Duathlon Championships (Győr, Hungary)
  • 1st – European Championships (Copenhagen, Denmark)
  • 1st - World Championships (Hamburg, Germany)
  • 1st – Life Time Fitness Triathlon (Minneapolis, United States)

2008

References

  1. ↑ 2006 BG Triathlon World Cup rankings.

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Diana Gomes		 Portuguese Sportswoman of the Year
2006 – 2008 		Succeeded by
Michelle Larcher de Brito
(men)
(men)
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