Vanessa de Sousa Fernandes (Portuguese pronunciation: [vɐˈnɛsɐ fɨɾˈnɐ̃dɨʃ]; born September 14, 1985) is a Portuguese athlete from Perosinho, Vila Nova de Gaia and the current triathlon European and former World champion. Vanessa has won the European Triathlon Championships five consecutive years (5 elite and 3 under-23 titles, still in progress), since 2004, and on September 1, 2007, she became World champion for the first time, in Hamburg, Germa...
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Vanessa de Sousa Fernandes (Portuguese pronunciation: [vɐˈnɛsɐ fɨɾˈnɐ̃dɨʃ]; born September 14, 1985) is a Portuguese athlete from Perosinho, Vila Nova de Gaia and the current triathlon European and former World champion. Vanessa has won the European Triathlon Championships five consecutive years (5 elite and 3 under-23 titles, still in progress), since 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 she signed for S.L. Benfica, in 2005. Occasionally, Fernandes enters cross country events. Fernandes competed at the Olympic Games for the first time in 2004. On the second Olympic...
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