Nelson Cruz (athlete)

Nelson Cruz (born 1977) is a Cape Verdean athlete, specializing in long-distance running, marathon and half marathon.

Biography

Born in Lisbon to Cape Verdean parents, Nelson grew up in Portugal, having visited Cape Verde for the first time in August 2006, where he won the 10,000m run in the National Youth Convention.

With double nationality (Portuguese and Cape Verdean), Nelson chose to compete for Cape Verde in international events. He is trained by Pedro Pessoa and competes for CDR Praia da Salema, having previously represented União Desportiva de Caxienses and Casal de Santo António sports club.

Sports career

Country	Event	Time	Rank	Date	Place	Event
CPV	marathon	2:19:14	?	April 10, 2005	Rotterdam	Rotterdam Marathon[1]
CPV	marathon	2:22:12	38	August 13, 2005	Helsinki	World Championships in Athletics[2]
POR	marathon	2:17:39	6	April 16, 2006	Lisbon	Carlos Lopes Gold Marathon[3]
(local competition)	10,000m	30:40	1	August 2006	Sal, Cape Verde	National Youth Convention (Encontro Nacional da Juventude)[4]
CPV	half marathon	1:09:08	1	October 2006	Macau	2006 Lusophony Games[4]
CPV	marathon	2:22:43	5	April 15, 2007	Lisbon	Carlos Lopes Gold Marathon[5]
CPV	marathon	DNF		August 25, 2007	Osaka	World Championships in Athletics[6]
CPV	marathon	2:23:47	48	August 24, 2008	Beijing	2008 Summer Olympics[7]

Nelson holds the Cape Verdean national records in all the long run races. In 2005, he represented Cape Verde for the first time internationally, in the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. Later, he won the gold medal in the half marathon in the 2006 Lusophony Games.

With such a track record, he was invited to be part of the Cape Verdean team in the Beijing Olympics 2008, through one of two wildcards for athletics given to Cape Verde by the International Olympic Committee.

His personal best for marathon is 2:17:36.

See also

• Cape Verde at the 2006 Lusophony Games
• Cape Verde at the 2008 Summer Olympics

References

1. ^ ARRS.net: National Records - Marathon
2. ^ IAAF.org: Helsinky 2005 - Men's Marathon results
3. ^ AIMS: April 2006 AIMS Results
4. ^ ^{a b} O Liberal Online: Nelson Cruz Conquista Ouro para Cabo Verde. 12 Oct 2006 (Portuguese)
5. ^ Lisbon 2008 Gold Marathon
6. ^ IAAF.org: Osaka 2007 - Men's Marathon results
7. ^ The New York Times: Olympics 2008 Official Results : Track and Field - Men's Marathon

Further reading

• O Liberal Online: Nelson Cruz Conquista Ouro para Cabo Verde. 12 Oct 2006 (Portuguese)
• Correio da Manhã: Repositor do Jumbo corre a maratona, by Mário Figueiredo. 12 Aug 2008 (Portuguese)
• HojeMacau: Excepções à regra - Nelson Cruz e Lenira Santos estreiam-se em Pequim ao serviço de Cabo Verde, by Alexandra Lages. 4 Jul 2008 (Portuguese)

Persondata
Name	Cruz, Nelson
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Date of birth	1977
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