Beijing, China -- Australia picked up a pair of medals in the Olympic women's triathlon with Emma Snowsill capturing the gold and Emma Moffatt earning the bronze.

Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal won the silver, but was 1 minute, 6.97 seconds behind Snowsill.

The 27-year-old Snowsill, the 2003, '05 and '06 winner of the World Championships and the second-place finisher last year, crossed the line in a total of 1 hour, 58 minutes and 27 seconds over the three events -- a 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run.

American Laura Bennett was fourth, while fellow U.S. members Sarah Haskins and Julie Swail Ertel came in 11th and 19th, respectively.

Just four years ago Snowsill was kept off the Australian triathlon team in a controversy. Only 12 days after winning at the 2003 World Championships, she finished six seconds outside the top two in an Australian qualifying event. She was named a reserve for the Olympics and briefly considered competing for New Zealand, her father's country of birth. Instead, she passed on the opportunity and decided it wasn't best to turn her back on Australia.

"There was a reason for that," said Snowsill. "Lessons were learned and it was a great motivation for coming to Beijing, but that has never been a sore point for me."

Snowsill, a nine-time World Cup winner who was recently diagnosed with asthma, was fifth in all three race categories to upset the 23-year-old Fernandes, considered the favorite.

Fernandes was the first woman to win 20 World Cup events, but was unable to run down Snowsill in the final leg, the 10km run. New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt led the women out of transition and into the four lap run followed close by Snowsill. Within a few hundred meters, Snowsill passed Hewitt, who dropped back in the pack behind her. Snowsill was then unchallenged to the finish line.

"I knew I had to get out on that run," said Snowsill. "Coming down on the last lap I had to throw in whatever I had left. There's nothing like running scared. I had to make sure I didn't leave anything out on that field. I put every ounce of energy into this." Defending Olympic champion Katherine Allen of Austria finished 14th.