Oscar Alberto Furlong (born October 22, 1927 in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

) was an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player and World Champion who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics

1948 Summer Olympics

The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...

 and in the 1952 Summer Olympics

1952 Summer Olympics

The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...

.

Nicknamed Pillín, he started playing in the youth divisions of Club Gimnasia y Esgrima de Villa del Parque. After his debut in the first team in 1944, the team obtained 6 leagues of the now defunct amateur Argentine Basketball Federation.

In 1948 he was part of the Argentina national basketball team

Argentina national basketball team

The Argentina national basketball team represents Argentina in basketball international competitions, and is controlled by the Argentine Basketball Federation....

, which finished fifteenth in the 1948 tournament

Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics was the second appearance of the sport as an official medal event. A total number of 23 nations entered the competition....

. Four years later he was a member of the basketball team which finished fourth. He played all eight games in the 1952 tournament

Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics was the third appearance of the sport. 23 nations entered the competition.The top six teams at the 1948 Summer Olympics qualified automatically, as did the 1950 World Champion , the top two at the 1951 European championships , and the host country...

.

Furlong's biggest success came when he won the world title with the national squad, at the first World Championship

1950 FIBA World Championship

The 1950 FIBA World Championship was an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from October 22 to November 3, 1950. Ten nations participated in the inaugural tournament. All competition was held at the Luna Park, Buenos Aires...

 in 1950, being the star of the team, the top-scorer and the MVP

Most Valuable Player

In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...

 of the tournament. He was the second top-scorer of the tournament with 67 points in 6 games (11,2 avg).

Furlong took early retirement in 1959 while playing for Parque, after a controversy during the military government that censured all the winners of the 1950 World Cup for receiving gifts for the achievement from Juan Perón

Juan Perón

Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...

, who had to flee after the coup d'état.

Oscar Furlong was inducted in the FIBA Hall of Fame

FIBA Hall of Fame

FIBA Hall of Fame honors basketball players, coaches and administrators who have contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. It includes the "Samaranch Library", the biggest basketball library in the world that, as of 2007, has over 10,000 basketball...

 in September 2007.

Sources

• Profile at FIBA
  International Basketball Federation
  The International Basketball Federation, more commonly known as FIBA , from its French name Fédération Internationale de Basketball, is an association of national organizations which governs international competition in basketball...
  
  
• "La primera gran estrella" Diario Olé
  Diario Olé
  Olé is an Argentine national daily sports newspaper published in Buenos Aires, Argentina.The publication was launched on May 23, 1996, by the Clarín Group. It has since become the most important sports publication in Argentina, specially after the closing of El Gráfico in 2002...
  
  
• Biography