Along with her arch rival, Emma Snowsill, Vanessa Fernandes has dominated women's short course racing for several years. When Snowsill and Fernandes feature on the startlist together, the other athletes almost resign themselves to the fact that they'll be fighting it out for third place. Last year the much talked about Olympic showdown between the two saw Emma come out on top. Many would think that a silver medal would be a disappointment, after all, Portugal's national hero, does have well over 20 World Cup victories to her name, but not so! Vanessa, who talks flatteringly about her closest rival, says that her silver medal was her greatest reward for many years hard work. Some may find that hard to believe, but Vanessa is convincingly genuine about how she feels about her silver medal and is not one, it appears, to be affected by the pressures of being one of the greatest short course athletes ever seen.
AE Vanessa, obviously as an athlete that has been on the centre stage for sometime we know a lot about your achievements in triathlon, but tell us about your sporting background and how you became involved in triathlon?
VF I’ve always been involved in sport. I grew up watching my father who was a professional cyclist. At six I was already swimming and at 13 I was running and competing in my first triathlon.
AE Did you ever consider becoming a cyclist and following in the footsteps of your father?
VF No, there was never pressure from my family for me to become a cyclist. Everything just happened naturally and I gradually realised my vocation in life was triathlon.
AE We've heard that you suffered a broken collar bone during pre-season training, how did it happen and are you back to full training?
VF Yes, it’s true, I had an accident during a training session. I fell really hard on the ground and unfortunately my shoulder took all the impact! It’s been a slow recovery and I’m still not at 100%. It also means I've lost a few months of training because of it.
AE Madrid took place last weekend - you've won all six previous World Cup races there, it must have been disappointing not to race there this year?
Oh happy days...
VF I have great memories of Madrid, and it’s wonderful to have won all six races there. Yes, it was disappointing not to be able to race this year.
AE Six victories is an incredible record - what is about Madrid that suits you so well?
VF I could say the weather (she laughs) but no, I just have been lucky in Madrid. I've always felt in a great shape for the race. The organization is great, the crowd is amazing, and I've just always felt very motivated there.
AE You've won numerous European and World Duathlon Championship gold medals, do you plan on continuing to race duathlon?
VF I usually do duathlon and athletics to help improve my performance, it’s good to do different sports from time to time. Yes, duathlon will continue to be a part of my racing programme.
AE Duathlon is sometimes seen as the poor relation to triathlon, yet it's a tougher sport than triathlon. The prize money is also much less so it's great to see you racing?
VF As I said, it’s nice to do something different sometimes, and although I love triathlon I respect duathletes a lot. For me duathlon is a very complete sport.
AE As one of two (Emma obviously being the other), runaway Olympic gold medal favourites in Beijing, the pressure on you must have been immense prior to the Games - how did you handle that pressure in the run up to the Olympic triathlon?
I love you man...you're my hero...
VF There were attempts to put pressure on me (she says this with a smile), but, sincerely, I never felt it. I’m a very calm and controlled person, and although I knew the responsibility I had, I think I handled it very well.
AE How much of a disappointment for you was it to win a silver medal and not gold.
VF There was never any disappointment, because I never said I would win gold. Mine and my team's main objective was to win a medal, and I did just that. As the Portuguese press said: the silver felt like gold.
AE The Portuguese are renowned for supporting their athletes - as one of Portugal's leading athletes do you get a lot of public recognition for what you've achieved?
VF Yes, a lot fortunately. Every day I receive dozens of emails from fans from all over the country and from all ages. It’s very nice to have that kind of support.
AE Emma and you have dominated the ITU circuit for the last few years - do you think either of you will be challenged this year and if so by who?
VF Yes, the same as we came onto the circuit new athletes will also appear and challenge us, although I'm not sure who they will be. I think that’s good for both us, it will push us to be better.
AE You've beaten Emma on many occasions, but at the moment she seems invincible, what will it take to beat her this year?
VF Emma is a very good and likeable athlete, but no one is invincible, and someday, someone will be better.
AE What's your best memory in your triathlon career so far?
VF It has to be when I won my Olympic Medal. It gave me immense pleasure to win it because it was hard to win. Years of work ended with winning that medal - it was a relief somehow.
We did it girls...
AE What's your favourite training session?
VF I love riding the bike. It gives me peace of mind.
AE Do you have any plans to race longer distances in the future?
VF It would be an exciting challenge, but at the moment its not part of my plans.
AE If you had to name your sporting hero (in any sport) who would it be?
VF Rosa Mota (World, European and Olympic marathon gold medalist) and Fernanda Ribeiro (World and Olympic 10,000m gold medalist) both Portugese, and Lance Armstrong. They are strong people with very powerful and interesting stories.
AE You've already achieved so much in sport, and at such a young age, what else would you like to achieve before you hang up your bike and running shoes?
VF I hope to achieve more, and I hope to achieve it on and off the bike. I feel that my life will always have to be linked to sports, competing or in the background helping younger athletes.
June 26, 2009 - Team Astana’s 
