Scott Neilson (born 31 January 1957) is a Canadian former track and field athlete who competed in the hammer throw. His personal best was , set in Seattle on 1 April 1978.Scott Neilson. All Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-10.

His greatest achievement was a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games. He was also a silver medallist at the Commonwealth Games in 1978 and was a seven-time NCAA champion while at the University of Washington.

Career He attended the University of Washington and competed for their Washington Huskies collegiate team. While there, he won four straight titles at the NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships from 1976 to 1979, including a championship record of . He also won three straight weight throw titles at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the same period. This made him the most successful athlete ever in the NCAA events. He also won four Pacific Coast Conference titles in hammer.Scott Neilson. Go Huskies. Retrieved on 2016-02-11.

He won four titles at the Canadian Track and Field Championships from 1976 to 1980, including a championship record of which remains unbeaten. At the 1979 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships he won the event with a championship record throw of .

His first international medal came at the age of eighteen at the 1975 Pan American Games. He was the first Canadian to win a hammer throw medal at that competition.Pan American Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-11. Three years later at the 1978 Commonwealth Games, held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, he became the first Canadian hammer medallist since George Sutherlandin 1934 by taking a silver medal behind Australia's Peter Farmer.Commonwealth Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-11. The 1979 Pan American Games saw him become his nation's first winner in the event, with a winning throw of . Only shot putter Bruce Pirnie had won a Pan American gold among Canadian throwers.

The last major result of his international career came at the age of twenty three at the Liberty Bell Classic, organised due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott that year. He defeated American Boris Djerassi at the alternative event with a mark of – one of the best of his career.Olympic Boycott Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-11. Despite this strong form, he was some way behind the form shown by the Soviets at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, where Yuriy Sedykh set a new world record of .Athletics at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games: Men's Hammer Throw. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2016-02-11. Neilson also competed at the IAAF World Cup event, representing North America, and came fifth in 1977 and fourth in 1981.1st World Cup in Athletics, Dusseldorf 1977. Athletics DB. Retrieved on 2016-02-11.3rd World Cup in Athletics, Rome 1981. Athletics DB. Retrieved on 2016-02-11.

In 2025 Neilson was inducted into the track and field Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame.

International competitions 1975Pan American GamesMexico City, Mexico3rd64.56 m1977World CupDüsseldorf, West Germany5th67.18 m1978Commonwealth GamesEdmonton, Alberta, Canada2nd69.92 m1979Pan American GamesSan Juan, Puerto Rico1st69.64 m1980Liberty Bell ClassicPhiladelphia, United States1st72.62 m1981World CupRome, Italy4th67.56 m

National titles USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Hammer throw: 1979United States Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-10. Canadian Track and Field Championships Hammer throw: 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980Canadian Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-10. NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships Hammer throw: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979NCAA Division I Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-10. NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships Weight throw: 1977, 1978, 1979NCAA Indoor Division I Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-02-10.

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