Álvaro Salvadores Salvi (born 12 October 1928 in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

– died 13 April 2002 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia) was a Chilean-Spaniard

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who competed at the 1950 FIBA World Championship in the Spain national team, and at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, in the

. Salvadores was also Chile's ambassador to Colombia, from 1986 to 1988. One of his younger brothers, Luis Salvadores, was a basketball player.

Early life

As a young boy, Salvadores' family immigrated from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

by boat, due to the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. On the way, he was kidnapped by a

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

, but was he was later found by his mother, with the help of some men. His family moved to Lanco, Chile, where they were known for their talent in basketball and music. He studied

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

Universidad de Concepción Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

, but gave it up a couple of years later.

Basketball career

Salvadores played basketball from a young age. He played professional basketball for many years in Chile. He took part in the first FIBA Basketball World Cup, hosted by

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

, after he offered the Spanish Basketball Federation to represent the senior

Spain national basketball team The Spain men's national basketball team ( es, Selección Española de Baloncesto) represents Spain in international basketball competitions. They are managed by the Spanish Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Spain. Spa ...

. At the tournament, he was the leader in points per game, scoring 13.8 points per game. He was also named to the All-Tournament Team. In 1952, Salvadores was a member of the senior Chilean basketball team, which finished in fifth place at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic Games. He played in all eight of Chile's games during the tournament, despite fracturing his femur during the dying minutes of the seventh game, after colliding with the goal post when he botched a

layup A layup in basketball is a two-point shot attempt made by leaping from below, laying the ball up near the basket, and using one hand to bounce it off the backboard and into the basket. The motion and one-handed reach distinguish it from a jump s ...

attempt. He played the last game on large amounts of pain medication, which would later be described as, "a mixture that could very nearly have killed him."

Personal life

Álvaro Salvadores went to Cartagena de Indias, Colombia for a basketball competition. There, he met his future wife, Elsa de la Espriella, with whom he fell in love, and he decided to stay in Colombia. He was known for his handsome looks, which granted him a role as an extra in the film, "The Adventurers", in 1970. He had four children, Álvaro, Mónica, Elsa, and María Angélica Salvadores. After being Chile's ambassador to Colombia, he continued to live there, until his death in 2002, from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

References

External links

Sports-Reference.com ProfileSpanish Basketball Federation Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salvadores, Alvaro 1928 births 2002 deaths Ambassadors of Chile to Colombia Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Chilean men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Chile People from Lanco Small forwards Spanish men's basketball players 1950 FIBA World Championship players