Van Nelson

Who is Van Nelson?

Van Nelson is an American former long-distance runner. An Olympian in 1968, he won long-distance track doubles at both the 1967 World Student Games and the 1967 Pan American Games.

Born in Minneapolis, Nelson attended Washburn High School and began competing in middle distance events there. He broke the school record for the mile run and was ranked fifth nationally as a high school runner in 1964. He graduated that year and went on to study at St. Cloud State University. He competed collegiately for the St. Cloud State Huskies in NAIA competitions. He was the team's captain in both track and field and cross country and won seven titles and 12 All-American honours during his four years representing the institution. He was inducted into the St. Cloud Hall of Fame in 1983, featuring in the second group of athletes to be given the honour.

At the Drake Relays, he won both the three-mile and six-mile races three times consecutively from 1966 to 1968. The 1967 season was the peak of Nelson's career. He won the Amateur Athletic Union six-mile title then completed a 5000 meters/10,000 meters track double at the 1967 World Student Games. He repeated this feat at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, becoming the second man to complete the long-distance double after Argentina's Osvaldo Suárez.