Nelson Cruz (athlete) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Nelson Cruz is a Cape Verde

Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...

an athlete, specializing in long-distance running

Long-distance track event

Long-distance track event races require runners to balance their energy. These types of races are predominantly aerobic in nature and at the highest level, exceptional levels of aerobic endurance is required more than anything else...

, marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

and half marathon

Half marathon

A half marathon is a road running event of . It is half the distance of a marathon and usually run on roads. Participation in half marathons has grown steadily recently. One of the main reasons for this is that it is a challenging distance, but does not require the same level of training that a...

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
Cape Verde	marathon	2:19:14		April 10, 2005	Rotterdam Rotterdam Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...	Rotterdam Marathon Rotterdam Marathon The Rotterdam Marathon is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April of every year since the third edition in 1984, and attracts many top athletes. It has also been ranked as one of the top 10 marathons in the world by Runner's World...
Cape Verde	marathon	2:22:12	38	August 13, 2005	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...	World Championships in Athletics 2005 World Championships in Athletics - Men's Marathon The Men's Marathon race at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics was held on August 13 in the streets of Helsinki with the goal line situated in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium....
Portugal	marathon	2:17:39	6	April 16, 2006	Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...	Carlos Lopes Carlos Lopes Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes, GCIH, is a former Portuguese long-distance athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1984 Summer Olympics, in Los Angeles. He brought home Portugal's first ever Olympic gold medal along with a new Olympic record - 2:09.21.Born in Vildemoinhos, near Viseu, Portugal,... Gold Marathon
(local competition)	10,000m	30:40	1	August 2006	Sal, Cape Verde Sal, Cape Verde Sal is an island in Cape Verde. It belongs to the northern group of islands, called Barlavento. The island is composed by a single administrative division, the Sal municipality. The island is home to Amílcar Cabral International Airport, the main airport of Cape Verde.- Geography :The island is...	National Youth Convention (Encontro Nacional da Juventude)
Cape Verde	half marathon	1:09:08	1	October 2006	Macau Macau Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...	2006 Lusophony Games Athletics at the 2006 Lusophony Games The Athletics at the 2006 Lusophony Games were held in the Macau Stadium on October 11 and 12. Brazil was the dominating delegation taking 19 out of 30 gold medals , while Sri Lanka managed to grab all three of gold medals it won in the Games in this sport...
Cape Verde	marathon	2:22:43	5	April 15, 2007	Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...	Carlos Lopes Carlos Lopes Carlos Alberto de Sousa Lopes, GCIH, is a former Portuguese long-distance athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1984 Summer Olympics, in Los Angeles. He brought home Portugal's first ever Olympic gold medal along with a new Olympic record - 2:09.21.Born in Vildemoinhos, near Viseu, Portugal,... Gold Marathon
Cape Verde	marathon	DNF		August 25, 2007	Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...	World Championships in Athletics 2007 World Championships in Athletics - Men's marathon The Men's Marathon event at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics took place on August 25, 2007 in the streets of Osaka, Japan. The weather conditions were difficult, with 28 degrees C. and 72 per cent humidity at the start of the race...
Cape Verde	marathon	2:23:47	48	August 24, 2008	Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...	2008 Summer Olympics 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

Nelson holds the Cape Verdean national records

National records in the marathon

The following tables are an overview of all current national records in the marathon, as compiled by the International Association of Athletics Federations and other authoritative sources of road racing statistics.-Background:...

in all the long run races. In 2005, he represented Cape Verde for the first time internationally, in the 2005 World Championships in Athletics

2005 World Championships in Athletics

The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...

. Later, he won the gold medal in the half marathon in the 2006 Lusophony Games

2006 Lusophony Games

The 1st Lusophony Games were held in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China between 7 and 15 October 2006...

.

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

Wild card (sports)

The term wild card refers broadly to a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play.-International sports:...

for athletics given to Cape Verde by the International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

.

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

Biography

Sports career

See also

Further reading