Vanessa Fernandes

GOIH, OM
Vanessa Fernandes

Fernandes at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Vanessa de Sousa Fernandes
Nationality	Portuguese
Born	(1985-09-14) 14 September 1985 (age 31) Perosinho, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
Residence	Jamor, Oeiras, Portugal
Height	169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country	Portugal
Sport	Triathlon
Club	Benfica
Medal record Vanessa Fernandes Medal record Representing  Portugal Women's triathlon Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Women's race ITU World Championships 2007 Hamburg Elite women's race 2006 Lausanne Elite women's race 2003 Queenstown Junior women's race ITU Triathlon World Cup 2006 Overall World Cup 2007 Overall World Cup European Championships 2003 Carlsbad Junior women's race 2004 Tiszaújváros U-23 women's race 2004 Valencia Elite women's race 2005 Sofia U-23 women's race 2005 Lausanne Elite women's race 2006 Rijeka U-23 women's race 2006 Autun Elite women's race 2007 Copenhagen Elite women's race 2008 Lisbon Elite women's race 2008 Pulpi U-23 women's race 2002 Gyor Junior women's race Women's duathlon ITU Duathlon World Championships 2007 Gyor Elite women's race 2008 Rimini Elite women's race ETU Duathlon European Championships 2006 Rimini Elite women's race 2002 Zeitz Junior women's race

Vanessa de Sousa Fernandes, GOIH, ComM, OM (Portuguese pronunciation: [vɐˈnɛsɐ fɨɾˈnɐ̃dɨʃ]; born 14 September 1985) is a Portuguese athlete who is a former triathlon European and world champion, and a Olympic medalist. In duathlon, she was also European and world champion.

Fernandes won the European Triathlon Championships five consecutive years (5 elite and 3 under-23 titles), beginning in 2004, and on 1 September 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. She competes for S.L. Benfica since 2005.

Born in Perosinho, Vila Nova de Gaia, Fernandes was introduced to triathlon in 1999, when she was fourteen, by her father, Venceslau Fernandes, a former professional cyclist and winner of the 1984 Volta a Portugal. She competed for her local triathlon club Clube de Perosinho and then for Belenenses where she became world champion of under-23. Later in 2005, Fernandes joined S.L. Benfica and represents the club to this day. Occasionally, she enters cross country events. She 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, Fernandes won the International Triathlon Union World Cup, ranking number one in the world. 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, she 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, Portugal.