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.
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.
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.