Menzies (24), the community and schools adviser at Sport Otago, finished second in the women's aged 20 to 24 age group.
The world title was won by Rebecca Clarke (Auckland) in 2hr 19min 03sec. Menzies was timed at 2hr 21min 33sec and Katey Burley (Great Britain) was third in 2hr 24min 09sec.
The other Otago medallist at the championships was Tanya Dromgool (Queenstown), who won the bronze medal in the women's aged 25 to 29 group in 2hr 18min 33sec. Her swim time was 22min 18sec, cycling 1hr 12min 05sec and run 41min.
Another Otago triathlete to finish in the top 10 at Beijing was Tamsyn Hayes (Dunedin), who was eighth in the women's aged 25 to 29 age-group in 2hr 23min 42sec.
Menzies, who has been competing in triathlons for only the past three years, was at her second world championships.
She competed on the Queensland Gold Coast two years ago.
The medal in Beijing demonstrated rapid progress in a sport that demands skills in the three disciplines of swimming, cycling and running. She is a member of the Otago Triathlon Academy.
Menzies was 3min behind the leaders when she completed the 1.5km swimming leg in 24min 56sec.
She made up ground on the 40km cycling leg which she completed in 1hr 09.10sec. It was the fastest cycling leg by women competitors in all age-groups on the bike.
But the supreme cycling effort proved costly on the 10km run she completed in 44min 02sec.
She lost 2min on Clarke.
Menzies moved into triathlons after representing New Zealand at basketball at under-16 and under-18 levels, a sport she started at Kavanagh College.
She was a key player in the Otago under-16 and under-18 teams that won national championships in 2002 and 2003.
Menzies was captain of the Otago Breakers team which made the final of the women's national basketball league and won a scholarship to play basketball for Florida Southern College in 2006.
She has a double degree in physical education and human nutrition from the University of Otago.
An 11-medal haul over the standard distance, including three golds, highlighted the New Zealand team performance in Beijing.
In the men's aged 20 to 24 category New Zealand competitors finished first, second, fourth and eighth.
Twenty-seven New Zealand team members finished in the top 10 in their age category over the standard distance at Beijing.
Andrea Hewitt (29) won the women's elite event in 1hr 58min 26sec when she out-kicked Helen Jenkins (Great Britain) over the final kilometre to finish second overall in the series behind the British athlete. Kate McIlroy was sixth while Debbie Tanner was prominent throughout the swim and bike legs before fading on the run to finish 25th.
Nicky Samuels, of Wanaka, was 33rd and has kept her Olympic prospects alive.
The final world ranking for the New Zealand competitors is Hewitt (2nd), McIlroy (17th), Tanner (25th) and Samuels (33rd).
