Basketball at the Summer Olympics facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Basketball at the Summer Olympics
Governing body	FIBA
Events	4 (men: 2; women: 2)
Games
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 Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics
Medalists

Basketball has been a part of the Summer Olympics for a long time! Men's basketball became an official medal sport in 1936. Before that, it was shown off as a special event in 1904 and 1924. Women's basketball joined the Olympics later, in 1976.

The USA men's team is super successful, winning 16 out of 19 tournaments they played in. They even won seven times in a row from 1936 to 1968! The USA women's team is also amazing, winning eight out of 10 tournaments, including seven in a row from 1996 to 2020. Besides the USA, only Argentina has won a gold medal in either the men's or women's tournament. Some countries that don't exist anymore, like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, also won gold. The USA teams are the current champions for both men and women.

In 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced that 3x3 basketball would also become an official Olympic sport starting from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. This exciting, faster version of basketball is now part of the Games for both men and women.

How Basketball Joined the Olympics

Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891. In just a few decades, this new game became very popular indoors across the United States. Its popularity quickly spread to other countries. The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) was created in 1932 in Geneva, Switzerland, to help organize the sport worldwide. The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) played a big role in sharing basketball with many nations. Because of this, 21 teams competed in the very first Olympic basketball tournament.

USA's Amazing Wins

Thanks to people like Phog Allen, a college coach, the first Olympic basketball tournament was held at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was played outdoors on tennis courts! Dr. Naismith, the inventor of basketball, even gave out the medals to the top three teams. Back then, only amateur players (those who didn't get paid to play) could compete in the Olympics.

The tournament moved indoors for the first time in 1948. The American team showed how strong they were, winning the first seven Olympic tournaments in a row, from 1936 to 1968. They didn't lose a single game! Even though American professional players from the National Basketball Association (NBA) weren't allowed to play, the USA sent their best college players. Teams from some other countries had players who were called "amateurs" by FIBA, but they actually received money for playing.

Challenging the Champions

The USA's winning streak finally ended in 1972. In a very close and controversial game, the Soviet Union beat them by just one point to win the gold medal.

The U.S. team won gold again in 1976. In 1980, the Americans didn't participate due to a boycott. This allowed Yugoslavia to become the third team ever to win the Olympic title. The USA got their gold medal back in 1984, but this time the Soviets boycotted the Games. The Soviet Union won gold for a second time in 1988, beating the USA in the semifinals.

When Pros Joined the Game

For a long time, only amateur athletes could play in the Olympics. But some countries, especially those in the Eastern Bloc, had "amateur" athletes who were paid by the government to train full-time. This made it hard for Western countries, whose athletes often paid for their own training.

In 1989, FIBA changed its rules. They decided to allow professional players from the NBA to compete in international tournaments, including the Olympics. This was a huge change!

At the 1992 Summer Olympics, the U.S. "Dream Team" was formed with famous NBA stars. They won the gold medal easily, winning their games by an average of 44 points! They didn't even need to call a single timeout. By this time, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia no longer existed as single countries. However, new countries formed from them, like Croatia and Lithuania, still became strong forces in basketball, winning silver and bronze medals in 1992.

The American team continued to win in 1996 and 2000, though not as easily as the "Dream Team."

The USA's winning streak was broken again in 2004. They lost to Puerto Rico and Lithuania in the early rounds. Then, Argentina beat them in the semifinals and went on to win the gold medal, becoming the fourth team to win the Olympic title.

The American men's team got back on track in 2008. They beat Spain in a tough gold medal game. The USA continued their winning ways, taking gold in 2012 and 2016. They defended their title again in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, making it four gold medals in a row and seven out of the last eight tournaments.

Women's Basketball at the Olympics

The first women's Olympic basketball tournament was held in 1976. The Soviet Union won all five of their games to become the first champions. They won again in 1980. The U.S. team won in 1984.

In 1988, the tournament grew to eight teams. The Americans beat Yugoslavia for the gold medal. In 1992, the Unified Team (made up of former Soviet republics) won gold. Since 1996, the tournament has had 12 teams. The U.S. women's team has won every single tournament since then, winning 48 games in a row!

Olympic Basketball Locations

All Olympic basketball games have been played indoors, except for the very first tournament in 1936. That one was held outside on 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, 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, Paris and Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq
• Los Angeles 2028: Crypto.com Arena, the Los Angeles Convention Center, both in Los Angeles, and the Intuit Dome, Inglewood
• Brisbane 2032: Brisbane Indoor Sports Centre, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast Indoor Sports Centre, Kawana Waters

How Teams Qualify for the Olympics

To play in the Olympics, basketball teams have to go through a special qualifying process. Here's how it generally works:

• One team (for both men and women) gets a spot automatically by being the reigning world champion.
• Some teams qualify through big tournaments held in their own regions (like Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania).
• Other teams get their spots through a worldwide qualifying tournament, where the best teams who didn't qualify directly compete.
• The country hosting the Olympics also gets to have their team play automatically.

For the 2020 men's tournament, the rules changed a bit. After the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, seven teams qualified directly. The next 16 best teams from the World Cup, plus two teams from each continent, played in Olympic qualifying tournaments. The best team from each of these groups earned the remaining spots. This means that continental championships are no longer used for Olympic qualifying.

Men's Olympic Basketball Medal Winners

Here's a quick look at the teams that have won medals in men's Olympic basketball:

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

Men's Medal Count by Country

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	16	1	2	19
2	Soviet Union (URS)	2	4	3	9
3	Yugoslavia (YUG)	1	3	1	5
4	Argentina (ARG)	1	0	1	2
5	Spain (ESP)	0	3	1	4
6	France (FRA)	0	3	0	3
7	Italy (ITA)	0	2	0	2
8	Canada (CAN)	0	1	0	1
	Croatia (CRO)	0	1	0	1
	Serbia (SRB)	0	1	0	1
	Serbia and Montenegro (SCG)	0	1	0	1
12	Brazil (BRA)	0	0	3	3
	Lithuania (LTU)	0	0	3	3
14	Uruguay (URU)	0	0	2	2
15	Australia (AUS)	0	0	1	1
	Cuba (CUB)	0	0	1	1
	Mexico (MEX)	0	0	1	1
	Russia (RUS)	0	0	1	1
Totals (18 entries)		20	20	20	60

• The Soviet Union (after 1992) and Yugoslavia (after 2006) are no longer countries. Their records are not carried over to new nations.
• Yugoslavia has been two different countries: the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1948–1988) and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1996–2006), which was later renamed Serbia and Montenegro.

Women's Olympic Basketball Medal Winners

Here's a quick look at the teams that have won medals in women's Olympic basketball:

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

Women's Medal Count by Country

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	9	1	1	11
2	Soviet Union (URS)	2	0	1	3
3	Unified Team (EUN)	1	0	0	1
4	Australia (AUS)	0	3	2	5
5	Brazil (BRA)	0	1	1	2
	Bulgaria (BUL)	0	1	1	2
	China (CHN)	0	1	1	2
	France (FRA)	0	1	1	2
	Yugoslavia (YUG)	0	1	1	2
10	Japan (JPN)	0	1	0	1
	South Korea (KOR)	0	1	0	1
	Spain (ESP)	0	1	0	1
13	Russia (RUS)	0	0	2	2
14	Serbia (SRB)	0	0	1	1
Totals (14 entries)		12	12	12	36

• The Soviet Union (after 1992) and Yugoslavia (after 2006) are no longer countries. Their records are not carried over to new nations.

Overall Medal Count

Here's a look at all the medals won in Olympic basketball (men's and women's combined):

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	25	2	3	30
2	Soviet Union (URS)	4	4	4	12
3	Yugoslavia (YUG)	1	4	2	7
4	Argentina (ARG)	1	0	1	2
5	Unified Team (EUN)	1	0	0	1
6	France (FRA)	0	4	1	5
	Spain (ESP)	0	4	1	5
8	Australia (AUS)	0	3	3	6
9	Italy (ITA)	0	2	0	2
10	Brazil (BRA)	0	1	4	5
11	Bulgaria (BUL)	0	1	1	2
	China (CHN)	0	1	1	2
	Serbia (SRB)	0	1	1	2
14	Canada (CAN)	0	1	0	1
	Croatia (CRO)	0	1	0	1
	Japan (JPN)	0	1	0	1
	Serbia and Montenegro (SCG)	0	1	0	1
	South Korea (KOR)	0	1	0	1
19	Lithuania (LTU)	0	0	3	3
	Russia (RUS)	0	0	3	3
21	Uruguay (URU)	0	0	2	2
22	Cuba (CUB)	0	0	1	1
	Mexico (MEX)	0	0	1	1
Totals (23 entries)		32	32	32	96

• The Soviet Union (after 1992) and Yugoslavia (after 2006) are no longer countries. Their records are not carried over to new nations.
• Yugoslavia has been two different countries: the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1948–1988) and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1996–2006), which was later renamed Serbia and Montenegro.

Olympic Basketball Records

Here are some interesting records from Olympic basketball tournaments:

As of May 1, 2018.

Top Career Scorers

The International Olympic Committee doesn't officially keep track of basketball records like these, but FIBA does!

Men's Top Scorers

Total points scored Player PTS Oscar Schmidt 1,093 Andrew Gaze 789 Pau Gasol 649 Luis Scola 591 Manu Ginóbili 523 Patty Mills 501 Wlamir Marques 500 Sergei Belov 475 Dražen Dalipagić 461 Dražen Petrović As of August 8, 2021

Points per game Player PTS GP PPG Oscar Schmidt 1,093 38 28.8 Mieczysław Młynarski 182 7 26.0 Mohamed Sayed Soliman 179 7 25.6 Ed Palubinskas 409 16 Bojan Bogdanović 152 6 25.3 Horacio López 199 8 24.9 Davis Peralta 214 9 23.8 Ricardo Duarte 212 9 23.6 Antonello Riva 187 8 23.4 Lee Chung-hee 160 7 22.9

Women's Top Scorers

Total points scored Player PTS Lauren Jackson 575 Janeth Arcain 535 Lisa Leslie 488 Diana Taurasi 379 Chen Nan 317 Alessandra Santos de Oliveira 290 Miao Lijie 284 Sheryl Swoopes Zheng Haixia 280 Jung Sun-min 276

Points per game Player PTS GP PPG LaToya Sanders 132 6 22.0 Uliana Semenova 131 6 21.8 Mfon Udoka 130 6 21.7 Evanthia Maltsi 146 7 20.9 Margo Dydek 143 7 20.4 Keiko Namai 102 5 Sofija Pekić 121 6 20.2 Lenke Jacsó-Kiss 120 6 20.0 Choi Kyung-hee 98 5 19.6 Uljana Semjonova 97 5 19.4

Top Scorer Each Tournament

Year	Men	PPG	Women	PPG
1948	Ignacio Romo Porchas	21.0	N/A
1952	Ivan Mrázek	22.0	N/A
1956	Oscar Moglia	26.0	N/A
1960	Radivoj Korać	23.6	N/A
1964	Ricardo Duarte	23.6	N/A
1968	Davis Peralta	23.8	N/A
1972	Masatomo Taniguchi	23.9	N/A
1976	Ed Palubinskas	31.3	Keiko Namai	20.4
1980	Ian Davies	29.3	Uliana Semanova	21.8
1984	Mohamed Sayed Soliman	25.6	Kim Hwa-soon	16.8
1988	Oscar Schmidt	42.3	Choi Kyung-hee Evladiya Slavcheva	19.6
1992	Oscar Schmidt	24.8	Hortência Marcari	18.8
1996	Oscar Schmidt	27.4	Yamilé Martínez	20.5
2000	Andrew Gaze	19.9	Janeth Arcain	20.5
2004	Pau Gasol	22.4	Lauren Jackson	22.9
2008	Pau Gasol	19.6	Miao Lijie	17.3
2012	Patty Mills	21.2	Érika de Souza	16.2
2016	Bojan Bogdanović	25.3	Elizabeth Cambage	23.5
2020	Patty Mills	26.8	Emma Meesseman	27.3

See also

• 3x3 basketball at the Summer Olympics
• Basketball at the Asian Games
• Basketball at the African Games
• Basketball at the Commonwealth Games
• Basketball at the Youth Olympic Games
• Basketball at the Pacific Games
• Basketball at the Pan American Games
• Wheelchair basketball at the Summer Paralympics

Images for kids

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  A symbol for basketball at the Olympics.