Álvaro Salvadores Salvi (born 12 October 1928 in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

– died 13 April 2002 in

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past ...

, 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who competed at the

1950 FIBA World Championship The 1950 FIBA World Championship, also called the 1st World Basketball Championship – 1950, was the inaugural edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, World Cup basketball tournament for men's national teams. It was held by the Internatio ...

in the Spain national team, and at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

, 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 Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

by boat, due to the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. On the way, he was kidnapped by a

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

, 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, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the Universidad de Concepción, 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 The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's globa ...

, hosted by

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, in

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

, after he offered the Spanish Basketball Federation to represent the senior Spain national basketball team. 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 ...

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

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

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, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

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 for Chile People from Lanco Small forwards Spanish men's basketball players 1950 FIBA World Championship players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen 20th-century Chilean sportsmen