Nelson Cruz (born 31 December 1977) is a Cape Verdean athlete, specializing in long-distance running, marathon and half marathon. 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. 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.