Alvaro Salvadores

Álvaro Salvadores Salvi (born October 12, 1928 in Spain – died April 13, 2002 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia) was a Chilean-Spaniard basketball player who competed in the 1950 FIBA World Championship in the Spanish squad, and in the 1952 Summer Olympics in the Chilean squad. Also, Salvadores was Chile's ambassador in Colombia from 1986 to 1988. One of his younger brothers, Luis Salvadores, was also a basketball player.

As a young boy, his family immigrated by boat from Spain to Chile due to the Spanish Civil War. On the way, he was kidnapped by a gypsie, but was found later by his mother with the help of some men. His family moved to Lanco, Chile, where the family were known for their talent in basketball and music. Later he studied Law at Universidad de Concepción, but retired a couple of years later.

Salvadores played basketball since 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 in 1950 after offered himself to the Spanish Federation There, he became the best scorer of the championship, in points per game (13.8 ppg).

In 1952, Salvadores was a member of the Chilean basketball team which finished fifth in the Olympics. He played all eight games in the 1952 tournament despite fracturing his femur during the dying minutes of the seventh game after colliding with the goal post when he botched a layup. 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."

Álvaro Salvadores went to Cartagena de Indias, Colombia for a basketball competition. There he met with Elsa de la Espriella, for whom he fell in love, and decided to stay in Colombia. He was known by 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 by lung cancer.

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