Background
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.
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 Chronic Disease Research Praia da Salema, having previously represented União Desportiva de Caxienses and Casal de Santo António sports club 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.
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.