Basketball at the Summer Olympics

Basketball at the Summer Olympics
Basketball at the Summer Olympics
IOC Code	BKB
Governing body	FIBA
Events	4 (men: 2; women: 2)
Summer Olympics
	1896; 1900; 1904; 1908; 1912; 1920; 1924; 1928; 1932; 1936; 1948; 1952; 1956; 1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; 2024; 2028; Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics
	Medalists;

Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as an unofficial demonstration event in 1904 and 1924. Women's basketball made its debut in the Summer Olympics in 1976. FIBA organizes both the men's and women's FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournaments and the Summer Olympics basketball tournaments, which are sanctioned by the IOC.^[1]

The United States is by far the most successful country in Olympic basketball, with United States men's teams having won 17 of 20 tournaments in which they participated, including seven consecutive titles from 1936 through 1968. United States women's teams have won 10 titles out of the 12 tournaments in which they competed, including eight in a row from 1996 to 2024. Besides the United States, Argentina is the only nation still in existence which has won both the men's and the women's tournament. The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and the Unified Team are the countries no longer in existence who have won the tournament. The United States are the defending champions in both men's and women's tournaments.

On 9 June 2017, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee announced that 3x3 basketball would become an official Olympic sport as of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, for both men and women.^[2]^[3]

History

Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. Within a few decades, the new game became popular throughout the United States as an indoor sport. The popularity spread overseas and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was organized in 1932 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) had a big part in the spread of this sport to many countries, and as many as 21 teams competed in the first Olympic basketball tournament.^[4]

American dominance

Thanks in part to the effort of Phog Allen^[5]^[6]—a Kansas Jayhawks collegiate coach—the first Olympic basketball tournament was organized in the 1936 Berlin Olympics on outdoor tennis courts. Dr. Naismith presented the medals to the top three teams. According to the Olympic rules of that time, all of the competitors were amateurs. The tournament was held indoors for the first time in 1948. The American team proved its dominance, winning the first seven Olympic tournaments through 1968, without losing a single game. While the Americans were barred from sending a team that contained players from the professional National Basketball Association, they instead sent in college players; teams from some other countries sent in their best players, as some of their players were classified as "amateur" by FIBA, by earning allowances instead of wages.

Munich and after

The U.S. winning streak ended in 1972, when the Soviet Union controversially won the gold medal game against the United States by one point.^[7]^[8]

The U.S. team reclaimed the gold medal in 1976, with Yugoslavia, which had beaten the Soviet Union in the semifinal, finishing runner-up for the second time. In 1980, with the Americans' absence due to the boycott, Yugoslavia became the third team to win the title, after beating the Soviets anew in the semifinals and Italy in the final. The Americans regained the title in 1984, by beating Spain in the final, with the Soviets boycotting this time. The Soviets won the gold medal for the second time in 1988, after beating the U.S. team for the second time in the semifinal, and the Yugoslavs in the gold medal game.

Professional era: renewed American dominance

The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. The Soviet Union entered teams of athletes who were all nominally listed in the military, but all of whom were in fact paid by the state to train full-time.^[4]^[9]^[10]^[11] In April 1989, through the leadership of Secretary General Borislav Stanković, FIBA approved the rule that allowed NBA players to compete in international tournaments, including the Olympics.^[4] In the 1992 Summer Olympics, the U.S. "Dream Team" won the gold medal with an average winning margin of 44 points per game, and without calling a timeout. By this time, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia no longer existed, but their successor states continued to be among the leading forces. Two newly independent countries of the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union, Croatia and Lithuania, won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

The American team repeated its victory in 1996 and 2000, but its performance was not as dominant as in 1992. Since active NBA players have been allowed to compete in the Summer Olympics, the 1996 Games in Atlanta is the only instance where the Olympic host city also had a home NBA team — the Hawks. Yugoslavia was the runner-up in Atlanta, and France in Sydney, with Lithuania winning bronze again on both occasions.

The renewed dominance of the U.S. was interrupted in 2004, when the Americans barely made it to the semifinal, after losing to Puerto Rico and Lithuania in the preliminaries; Argentina defeated them in the semifinals, on their way to a gold medal finish, where they beat Italy in the final, and became the fourth team to win the Olympic title.

The Americans regrouped in 2008, beating the reigning FIBA world champions, Spain, in an intense gold medal game, with the Argentines beating the Lithuanians in the bronze medal game. The Americans and the Spaniards met again in the 2012 gold medal game, with the U.S. again winning, although with the closest winning margin for the American team. The U.S. won again in 2016, defeating the Serbians in the gold medal game, a rematch of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup Final, after eliminating the Spaniards, who settled for bronze. The American team defended their title by winning again at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, extending their run to four consecutive gold medal finishes, and seven out of the last eight.

Women

The first women's tournament was staged in the 1976 Summer Olympics. The Soviet Union won five straight games, becoming the inaugural champion. The next two tournaments followed the six-team round-robin format, with the Soviets defending their title in 1980 amid the U.S.-led boycott, and the U.S. winning in 1984, against the South Koreans, amid the Soviet-led boycott. In 1988, the tournament expanded into eight teams, with the Americans beating Yugoslavia in the gold medal game. In 1992, the Unified Team, consisting of the former Soviet republics, defeated China in the gold medal game. In 1996, the tournament settled into its current 12-team format; the U.S. has swept all of the tournaments since then, winning 61 consecutive games.

Venues

All venues were indoor stadiums except for the 1936 tournament, which was held outdoors on lawn tennis courts.

Berlin 1936: Reichssportfeld, Berlin
London 1948: Harringay Arena, London
Helsinki 1952: Tennis Palace and Messuhalli II, both in Helsinki
Melbourne 1956: Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
Rome 1960: Sports Arena and Sports Palace, Rome
Tokyo 1964: Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo
Mexico City 1968: Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Munich 1972: Basketballhalle, Munich
Montreal 1976: Étienne Desmarteau Centre and the Montreal Forum, Montreal
Moscow 1980: CSCA Sports Palace and Olimpiysky Stadium, Moscow
Los Angeles 1984: The Forum, Inglewood
Seoul 1988: Jamsil Arena, Seoul
Barcelona 1992: Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona, Badalona
Atlanta 1996: Forbes Arena and the Georgia Dome, Atlanta
Sydney 2000: The Dome and Sydney SuperDome, Parramatta
Athens 2004: Hellinikon Indoor Arena and the Olympic Indoor Hall, Elliniko and Marousi
Beijing 2008: Wukesong Indoor Stadium, Beijing
London 2012: Olympic Basketball Arena and The O2 Arena,^[a] London
Rio de Janeiro 2016: Carioca Arena 1 and the Youth Arena, Rio de Janeiro
Tokyo 2020: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama
Paris 2024: Accor Arena^[b], Paris and Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq
Los Angeles 2028: Crypto.com Arena,^[c] the Los Angeles Convention Center, both in Los Angeles, and Intuit Dome,^[c] Inglewood
Brisbane 2032: Brisbane Indoor Sports Centre, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre, Kawana Waters

^ The O2 Arena was known as the North Greenwich Arena during the games due to Olympics regulations regarding corporate sponsorship of event sites.
^ The Accor Arena is known as the Bercy Arena during the games due to Olympics regulations regarding corporate sponsorship of event sites.
^ ^a ^b Due to Olympic regulations regarding corporate sponsorship of event sites, this venue will be known by a yet-to-be-determined name during the Games.

Qualifying

As of 2012, the qualifying process consists of three stages:

1 team (for each gender) qualifies as the reigning world champion.
7 teams for men and 5 for women qualify through their respective regional championships.
3 teams for men and 5 for women qualify through a world qualifying tournament, in which the best teams which did not qualify directly from each zone compete for the remaining berths.

Additionally, the teams of the host nation qualify automatically.

Zone	Men	Women
World Cup	1	1
African championship	1	1
Americas championship	2	1
Asian championship	1	1
European championship	2	1
Oceania championship	1	1
World qualifying tournament	3	5
Host Nation	1	1
Total	12	12

In 2020, the men's tournament will have a new qualification system. After the 2019 FIBA World Cup, seven teams will qualify directly: the top two European and American teams, and the top team from Africa, Asia and Oceania. The next 16 best teams from the FIBA World Cup will join the two teams from each continent at the Olympic qualifiers. It will feature four groups of six teams, where the best team of each group will get the remaining spots at the Olympics. The continental championships will no longer be used for Olympic qualifying.

Men

Summaries

Year	Hosts	Gold medal game			Bronze medal game
Year	Hosts	Gold	Score	Silver	Bronze	Score	Fourth place
1936	Berlin	United States	19–8	Canada	Mexico	26–12	Poland
1948	London	United States	65–21	France	Brazil	52–47	Mexico
1952	Helsinki	United States	36–25	Soviet Union	Uruguay	68–59	Argentina
1956	Melbourne	United States	89–55	Soviet Union	Uruguay	71–62	France
1960	Rome	United States	81–57	Soviet Union	Brazil	78–75	Italy
1964	Tokyo	United States	73–59	Soviet Union	Brazil	76–60	Puerto Rico
1968	Mexico City	United States	65–50	Yugoslavia	Soviet Union	70–53	Brazil
1972	Munich	Soviet Union	51–50	United States	Cuba	66–65	Italy
1976	Montreal	United States	95–74	Yugoslavia	Soviet Union	100–72	Canada
1980	Moscow	Yugoslavia	86–77	Italy^[a]	Soviet Union	117–94	Spain^[a]
1984	Los Angeles	United States	96–65	Spain	Yugoslavia	88–82	Canada
1988	Seoul	Soviet Union	76–63	Yugoslavia	United States	78–49	Australia
1992	Barcelona	United States	117–85	Croatia	Lithuania	82–78	Unified Team
1996	Atlanta	United States	95–69	Yugoslavia	Lithuania	80–74	Australia
2000	Sydney	United States	85–75	France	Lithuania	89–71	Australia
2004	Athens	Argentina	84–69	Italy	United States	104–96	Lithuania
2008	Beijing	United States	118–107	Spain	Argentina	87–75	Lithuania
2012	London	United States	107–100	Spain	Russia	81–77	Argentina
2016	Rio de Janeiro	United States	96–66	Serbia	Spain	89–88	Australia
2020^[b]	Tokyo	United States	87–82	France	Australia	107–93	Slovenia
2024	Paris	United States	98–87	France	Serbia	93–83	Germany

^ ^a ^b Several teams competed under the Olympic Flag in support for the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott.
^ The 2020 Summer Olympics were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medal table

Updated after the gold medal match of the 2024 Olympic tournament.


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	17	1	2	20
2	Soviet Union	2	4	3	9
3	Yugoslavia	1	3	1	5
4	Argentina	1	0	1	2
5	France	0	4	0	4
6	Spain	0	3	1	4
7	Italy	0	2	0	2
8	Serbia	0	1	1	2
9	Canada	0	1	0	1
	Croatia	0	1	0	1
	Serbia and Montenegro	0	1	0	1
12	Brazil	0	0	3	3
12	Lithuania	0	0	3	3
14	Uruguay	0	0	2	2
15	Australia	0	0	1	1
	Cuba	0	0	1	1
	Mexico	0	0	1	1
	Russia	0	0	1	1
Totals (18 entries)		21	21	21	63

Source: ^[12]

Soviet Union (as of 1992) and Yugoslavia (as of 2006) are defunct. No team carried over the records of these nations.
Yugoslavia has been the designation from two distinct national entities: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1948 to 1988 formed as a joint state of 6 republics; Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1996 to 2006 formed as a joint state by only Montenegro and Serbia. In 2003, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed to Serbia and Montenegro, however both Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro represented the same national entity: a joint state of Montenegro and Serbia.

Performance by confederation

This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.

Confederation	1936	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024
FIBA Africa	15th–18th	19th	9th–16th	–	–	–	15th	15th	12th	11th	12th	10th	10th	11th	12th	12th	12th	10th	11th	10th	9th
FIBA Americas	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	5th	1st	3rd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
FIBA Asia	5th	8th	9th–16th	7th	11th	10th	13th	13th	11th	12th	10th	9th	12th	8th	10th	8th	8th	12th	12th	11th	11th
FIBA Europe	4th	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd
FIBA Oceania	–	–	–	12th	–	9th	–	9th	8th	8th	7th	4th	6th	4th	4th	9th	7th	7th	4th	3rd	6th
Nations	21	23	23	15	16	16	16	16	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Participating nations

Nation	1936	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024	Years
Angola	^A												10th	11th	12th	12th	12th					5
Argentina		15th	4th											9th		1st	3rd	4th	8th	7th		8
Australia				12th		9th		9th	8th	8th	7th	4th	6th	4th	4th	9th	7th	7th	4th	3rd	6th	16
Belgium	19th	11th	17th																			3
Brazil	9th	3rd	6th	6th	3rd	3rd	4th	7th		5th	9th	5th	5th	6th				5th	9th		7th	16
Bulgaria			7th	5th	16th		10th															4
Canada	2nd	9th	9th	9th		14th			4th		4th	6th			7th						5th	10
Central African Republic	^A											10th										1
Chile	9th	6th	5th	8th																		4
China					^A						10th	11th	12th	8th	10th	8th	8th	12th	12th			9
Chinese Taipei^B	15th	18th		11th																		3
Croatia	^C												2nd	7th			6th		5th			4
Cuba		13th	9th				11th	3rd	7th	6th												6
Czech Republic	^K																			9th		1
Czechoslovakia	9th	7th	9th		5th			8th	6th	9th				^A								7
Egypt	15th	19th	9th					16th	12th		12th	12th										7
Estonia	9th	^D																				1
Finland			9th			11th																2
France	19th	2nd	8th	4th	10th						11th				2nd			6th	6th	2nd	2nd	11
Germany^E	15th							12th			8th		7th				10th			8th	4th	7
Great Britain		20th																9th				2
Greece			17th											5th		5th	5th				8th	5
Hungary		16th	9th		9th	13th																4
India										12th												1
Iran		14th															11th			12th		3
Iraq		22nd																				1
Ireland		23rd																				1
Israel	^A		17th																			1
Italy	7th	17th	17th		4th	5th	8th	4th	5th	2nd	5th				5th	2nd				5th		13
Japan	9th			10th	15th	10th		14th	11th											11th	11th	8
Latvia	15th	^D																				1
Lithuania		^D											3rd	3rd	3rd	4th	4th	8th	7th			7
Mexico	3rd	4th	9th		12th	12th	5th		10th													7
Morocco	^A						16th															1
New Zealand															11th	10th						2
Nigeria																		10th	11th	10th		3
Panama							12th															1
Peru	8th	10th				15th																3
Philippines	5th	12th	9th	7th	11th		13th	13th														7
Poland	4th				7th	6th	6th	10th		7th												6
Puerto Rico	^A				13th	4th	9th	6th	9th			7th	8th	10th		6th					12th	10
Romania			17th																			1
Russia	^D												^F		8th		9th	3rd				3
Senegal	^A						15th	15th		11th												3
Serbia	^G															^H			2nd		3rd	2
Serbia and Montenegro	^G															11th	^A					1
Singapore	^A			13th		^I																1
Slovenia	^C																			4th		1
South Korea	^A	8th		14th		16th	14th					9th		12th								6
South Sudan	^A																				9th	1
Soviet Union	^J		2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st	3rd	3rd		1st	^F	^A								9
Spain					14th		7th	11th		4th	2nd	8th	9th		9th	7th	2nd	2nd	3rd	6th	10th	14
Sweden										10th												1
Switzerland	9th	21st	17th																			3
Thailand	^A			15th																		1
Tunisia																		11th				1
Turkey	19th		17th																			2
Unified Team	^D												4th	^A								1
United States	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st		1st	3rd	1st	1st	1st	3rd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	20
Uruguay	6th	5th	3rd	3rd	8th	8th					6th											7
Venezuela													11th						10th			2
Yugoslavia					6th	7th	2nd	5th	2nd	1st	3rd	2nd		2nd	6th	^A						10
Nations	21	23	23	15	16	16	16	16	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Notes

^{^A} The NOC was not member of the IOC.

^{^B} As

China from 1936 to 1956.

^{^C} Part of

Yugoslavia from 1936 to 1988.

^{^D} Part of

Soviet Union.

^{^E} As

West Germany from 1968 to 1988.

^{^F} Part of

Unified Team in 1992.

^{^G} Now

Serbia, part of

Yugoslavia in 1936–1988, as

Independent Olympic Participants in 1992 and part of

Yugoslavia in 1996–2000.

^{^H} Part of

Serbia and Montenegro in 2004.

^{^I} Part of

Malaysia in 1964.

^{^J} The Soviet Union chose not to compete in 1936 and 1948.

^{^K} Part of

Czechoslovakia from 1920 to 1992.