Basketball at the Summer Olympics

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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]

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]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

1. 1 team (for each gender) qualifies as the reigning world champion.
2. 7 teams for men and 5 for women qualify through their respective regional championships.
3. 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.

Year	Hosts	Gold medal game			Bronze medal game
		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

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
	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

• 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.

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

^{^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.

Year	Hosts	Gold medal game			Bronze medal game
		Gold	Score	Silver	Bronze	Score	Fourth place
1976	Montreal	Soviet Union	112–77	United States	Bulgaria	67–66	Czechoslovakia
1980	Moscow	Soviet Union	104–73	Bulgaria	Yugoslavia	68–65	Hungary
1984	Los Angeles	United States	85–55	South Korea	China	63–57	Canada
1988	Seoul	United States	77–70	Yugoslavia	Soviet Union	68–53	Australia
1992	Barcelona	Unified Team	76–66	China	United States	88–74	Cuba
1996	Atlanta	United States	111–87	Brazil	Australia	66–56	Ukraine
2000	Sydney	United States	76–54	Australia	Brazil	84–73 (OT)	South Korea
2004	Athens	United States	74–63	Australia	Russia	71–62	Brazil
2008	Beijing	United States	92–65	Australia	Russia	94–81	China
2012	London	United States	86–50	France	Australia	83–74	Russia
2016	Rio de Janeiro	United States	101–72	Spain	Serbia	70–63	France
2020[a]	Tokyo	United States	90–75	Japan	France	91–76	Serbia
2024	Paris	United States	67–66	France	Australia	85–81	Belgium

Source: FIBA^[13]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	10	1	1	12
2	Soviet Union	2	0	1	3
3	Unified Team	1	0	0	1
4	Australia	0	3	3	6
5	France	0	2	1	3
6	Brazil	0	1	1	2
	Bulgaria	0	1	1	2
	China	0	1	1	2
	Yugoslavia	0	1	1	2
10	Japan	0	1	0	1
	South Korea	0	1	0	1
	Spain	0	1	0	1
13	Russia	0	0	2	2
14	Serbia	0	0	1	1
Totals (14 entries)		13	13	13	39

• 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.

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

Confederation	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024
FIBA Africa	–	–	–	–	–	12th	12th	11th	12th	12th	12th	11th	8th
FIBA Americas	2nd	5th	1st	1st	3rd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st
FIBA Asia	5th	–	2nd	6th	2nd	7th	4th	9th	4th	5th	8th	2nd	9th
FIBA Europe	1st	1st	6th	2nd	1st	4th	5th	3rd	3rd	2nd	2nd	3rd	2nd
FIBA Oceania	–	–	5th	4th	–	3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd	3rd	5th	8th	3rd
Nations	6	6	6	8	8	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Nation	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020	2024	Years
Angola										12th				1
Australia			5th	4th		3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd	3rd	5th	8th	3rd	10
Belarus	B				C				6th		9th			2
Belgium												7th	4th	2
Brazil					7th	2nd	3rd	4th	11th	9th	11th			7
Bulgaria	3rd	2nd		5th										3
Canada	6th		4th			11th	10th			8th	7th	9th	11th	8
China	A		3rd	6th	2nd	9th		9th	4th	6th	10th	5th	9th	10
Croatia	F									10th				1
Cuba		5th			4th	6th	9th							4
Czech Republic	D							5th	7th	7th				3
Czechoslovakia	4th			8th	6th	A								3
DR CongoE						12th								1
France							5th			2nd	4th	3rd	2nd	5
Germany													7th	1
Great Britain										11th				1
Greece								7th						1
Hungary		4th												1
Italy		6th			8th	8th								3
Japan	5th					7th		10th			8th	2nd	12th	6
Latvia	B								9th					1
Mali									12th					1
New Zealand							11th	8th	10th					3
Nigeria								11th				11th	8th	3
Poland							8th							1
Puerto Rico												12th	10th	2
Russia	B				C	5th	6th	3rd	3rd	4th				5
Senegal							12th				12th			2
Serbia	F										3rd	4th	6th	3
Slovakia	D						7th							1
South Korea			2nd	7th		10th	4th	12th	8th			10th		7
Soviet Union	1st	1st		3rd	C	A								3
Spain					5th			6th	5th		2nd	6th	5th	6
Turkey										5th	6th			2
Ukraine	B				C	4th								1
Unified Team	A				1st	A								1
United States	2nd		1st	1st	3rd	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	1st	12
Yugoslavia		3rd	6th	2nd				A						3
Nations	6	6	6	8	8	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

^{^A} NOC was not member of IOC

^{^B} competed as part of Soviet Union from 1952–88

^{^C} part of  Unified Team in 1992

^{^D} part of Czechoslovakia from 1920–92

^{^E} as Zaire from 1984–96

^{^F} part of "Yugoslavia" from 1976–2000 and "Serbia and Montenegro" in 2004

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	27	2	3	32
2	Soviet Union	4	4	4	12
3	Yugoslavia	1	4	2	7
4	Argentina	1	0	1	2
5	Unified Team	1	0	0	1
6	France	0	6	1	7
7	Spain	0	4	1	5
8	Australia	0	3	4	7
9	Italy	0	2	0	2
10	Brazil	0	1	4	5
11	Serbia	0	1	2	3
12	Bulgaria	0	1	1	2
	China	0	1	1	2
14	Canada	0	1	0	1
	Croatia	0	1	0	1
	Japan	0	1	0	1
	Serbia and Montenegro	0	1	0	1
	South Korea	0	1	0	1
19	Lithuania	0	0	3	3
	Russia	0	0	3	3
21	Uruguay	0	0	2	2
22	Cuba	0	0	1	1
	Mexico	0	0	1	1
Totals (23 entries)		34	34	34	102

• 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.

Team	Games played	Wins	Losses	Winning percentage
Angola	31	3	28	.097
Argentina	57	33	24	.579
Australia	115	58	57	.504
Belgium	13	6	7	.462
Brazil	115	66	49	.574
Bulgaria	33	16	17	.485
Canada	70	39	31	.557
Central African Republic	7	2	5	.286
Chile	26	12	14	.462
China	50	7	43	.140
Chinese Taipei	28	16	12	.571
Croatia	28	16	12	.571
Cuba	45	22	23	.489
Czechoslovakia	46	23	23	.500
Czech Republic	3	1	2	.333
Egypt	44	6	38	.136
Estonia	3	1	2	.333
Finland	12	4	8	.333
France	72	40	32	.556
Germany	44	15	29	.341
Great Britain	13	2	11	.154
Greece	28	14	14	.500
Hungary	33	14	19	.424
India	7	0	7	.000
Iran	15	2	13	.133
Iraq	7	0	7	.000
Ireland	6	0	6	.000
Israel	2	0	2	.000
Italy	95	56	39	.589
Japan	47	11	36	.234
Latvia	3	1	2	.333
Lithuania	52	32	20	.615
Mexico	49	26	23	.531
Morocco	9	0	9	.000
New Zealand	12	2	10	.167
Nigeria	13	2	11	.154
Panama	9	2	7	.222
Peru	22	9	13	.409
Philippines	52	25	27	.481
Poland	49	23	26	.469
Puerto Rico	75	34	41	.453
Romania	2	0	2	.000
Russia	20	10	10	.500
Senegal	24	2	22	.083
Serbia	41	23	18	.561
Singapore	7	2	5	.286
Slovenia	6	4	2	.667
South Korea	47	8	39	.170
South Sudan	3	1	2	.333
Soviet Union	74	61	13	.824
Spain	102	55	47	.539
Sweden	7	3	4	.429
Switzerland	13	4	9	.308
Thailand	7	0	7	.000
Tunisia	5	0	5	.000
Turkey	4	0	4	.000
Unified Team	8	5	3	.625
United States	155	149	6	.961
Uruguay	56	29	27	.518
Venezuela	12	3	9	.250
Yugoslavia	60	48	12	.800

As of 10 August 2024

Team	Games played	Wins	Losses	Winning percentage
Angola	5	0	5	.000
Australia	60	41	19	.683
Belgium	4	2	2	.500
Brazil	44	19	25	.432
Belarus	11	3	8	.273
Bulgaria	16	10	6	.625
Canada	39	11	28	.282
China	52	25	27	.481
Croatia	5	1	4	.200
Cuba	24	9	15	.375
Czechoslovakia	15	3	12	.200
Czech Republic	19	8	11	.421
DR Congo	7	0	7	.000
France	29	19	10	.655
Great Britain	5	0	5	.000
Greece	7	3	4	.429
Hungary	6	2	4	.333
Italy	18	3	15	.167
Japan	31	13	18	.419
Latvia	5	1	4	.200
Mali	5	0	5	.000
New Zealand	18	4	14	.222
Nigeria	9	1	8	.111
Poland	7	3	4	.429
Puerto Rico	3	0	3	.000
Russia	39	25	14	.641
Serbia	14	7	7	.500
Senegal	11	0	11	.000
Slovakia	7	3	4	.429
South Korea	41	15	26	.366
Soviet Union	16	14	2	.875
Spain	30	19	11	.633
Turkey	12	7	5	.583
Ukraine	8	4	4	.500
Unified Team	5	4	1	.800
United States	75	72	3	.960
Yugoslavia	16	8	8	.500

As of 8 August 2021

Category	Men	Women
Highest game score	229 points: USA 156–73 Nigeria (2012)	190 points: Japan 62–128 Brazil (2004)
Lowest game score	27 points: USA 19–8 Canada (1936)	100 points: Senegal 32–68 Slovakia (2000)
Biggest margin	100 points: Korea 120–20 Iraq (1948) China 125–25 Iraq (1948)	66 points: Japan 62–128 Brazil (2004) Italy 53–119 Soviet Union (1980)
Games with most overtimes	2 overtimes: Argentina 111–107 Brazil (2016) Canada 86–83 Russia (2000) Lithuania 83–81 Croatia (1996) Australia 109–101 Brazil (1996)	2 overtimes: Turkey 79–76 Brazil (2016) Spain 92–80 Italy (1992)
Longest winning streak	63 games: USA (1936–72)	58 games: USA (1992–2024)
All-time top cumulative scorer	1,093 points: Oscar Schmidt (Brazil)	581 points: Lauren Jackson (Australia)
All-time top average scorer	28.8 points per game: Oscar Schmidt (Brazil)	22 points per game: Lara Sanders (Turkey)
Single game scorer	55 points: Oscar Schmidt (Spain vs. Brazil, 1988)	39 points: Evladiya Slavcheva-Stefanova (Bulgaria vs. South Korea, 1988)

As of 4 August 2024

The International Olympic Committee does not recognize records for basketball, although FIBA does.

Points per game

Player	PTS	GP	PPG