Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
at the
1936 Summer Olympics was the first appearance of the sport of
basketball as an official Olympic medal event. The tournament was played between 7 August and 14 August 1936 in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. 23 nations entered the competition, making basketball the largest tournament of the team sports, but Hungary and Spain withdrew, meaning 21 competed.
The IOC and
International Basketball Federation
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...
, which is the governing body of international basketball, used the 1936 tournament to experiment with outdoor basketball. Lawn and dirt tennis courts were used for the competition, but this caused problems when the weather was adverse, especially during the final of the tournament.
The medals were awarded by
James Naismith
James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...
, the inventor of
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
. The United States won its first gold medal, while Canada and Mexico won silver and bronze, their only medals in basketball, as of 2020.
Medalists
Note: Th
International Olympic Committee medal databaseshows only these players as medalists. They all played at least one match during the tournament. The reserve players are not listed as medalists.
Results
Brackets
Third round onwards
Fifth-place classification
First round
Winners advanced to the second round, while losers competed in the first consolation round for another chance to move on.
Byes: Philippines, (drawn against Spain, who withdrew) and (drawn against Hungary, who withdrew).
First consolation round
Winners returned to the main competition for the second round, while losers were eliminated.
* Uruguay 17–10 Belgium
* China 45–38 France
* Egypt 33–23 Turkey
Byes: Brazil, Germany and Poland
Second round
Winners advanced to the third round. Losers competed in the second consolation round for another chance to move on.
* Philippines 32–30 Mexico
* Japan 43–31 Poland
* Uruguay 36–23 Egypt
* Peru 29–21 China
* United States 52–28 Estonia
* Italy 58–16 Germany
* Switzerland 25–12 Czechoslovakia
* Chile 23–18 Brazil
* Canada 34–23 Latvia
Second consolation round
* Poland def. Latvia, 28–23
* Brazil def. China, 32–14
* Mexico def. Egypt, 32–10
* Czechoslovakia def. Germany, 20–9
Bye: Estonia
Third round
The third round was the first to cause automatic elimination for losers, with no consolation round. Winners advanced to the quarterfinals.
Byes In cricket, a bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team when the ball has not been hit by the batter and the ball has not hit the batter's body.
Scoring byes
Usually, if the ball passes the batter without being deflected, th ...
: United States and Peru
Quarterfinals
Winners of the quarterfinals advanced to the medals round, with losers playing in classification matches.
* United States 56–23 Philippines
* Mexico 24–17 Italy
* Canada 41–21 Uruguay
Bye: Poland (Peru
abandoned the Olympic Games to protest the actions of the German authorities in the
football tournament).
Classification 5–8
Preliminary match
* Philippines 32–14 Italy
Bye: Uruguay (Peru abandoned competition - see above).
Fifth place match
* Philippines 33–23 Uruguay
Medals round
Semifinals
Bronze medal match
Final
The final was played in driving rain, turning the court into a quagmire such that it was impossible to dribble, while the conditions kept scoring to a minimum: highest scorer in the game was
Joe Fortenberry of the United States, with seven points. In addition, almost all of the nearly 1,000 in attendance had to stand in the rain throughout the final as there were virtually no seats for spectators.
Awards
Participating nations
For the team rosters see: ''
Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads''.
Each country was allowed to enter one team of 14 players and they all were eligible for participation; however, only seven were allowed to dress for competition at any one game.
A total of 199''(*)'' basketball players from 21 nations competed at the Berlin Games:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Hungary and Spain withdrew before playing a match.
''(*) NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least.''
Not all reserve players are known.
Summary
Note:
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
withdrew before competition started
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olympics
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
1936
Events
January–February
* January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
1936 in basketball
International basketball competitions hosted by Germany