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 ...

events at the 1976 Summer Olympics was the ninth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place from July 18 to July 27 at the

Centre Étienne Desmarteau The Centre Étienne Desmarteau is a multi-purpose complex with two ice rinks in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The centre is named in honour of Étienne Desmarteau, a Canadian Olympic athlete during the 1904 Summer Olympics. The arena hoste ...

and the

Montreal Forum Montreal Forum (french: Le Forum de Montréal) is a historic building located facing Cabot Square in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by '' Sporting News'', it was an indoor arena which served as the ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, Canada. Women's basketball was introduced to the Olympic program for the first time at this Games. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

won the gold against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in the men's tournament, while the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

won the gold medal against the United States in the women's competition.

Medal summary

Qualification

A single NOC may enter up to one men's team with 12 players and up to one women's team with 12 players. Automatic qualifications were granted to the host country for both events plus the three medal winners from the previous Olympic Games for the men's tournament, and the three first places at the 1975 FIBA World Championship for the women's tournament. Additional spots for the men's tournament were decided via the continental qualification tournaments held by

FIBA 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 ...

and an extra qualifying tournament held in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Canada months prior to the contest. The remaining slots for the women's competition were also assigned via another tournament held in the same city.

Men

Women

* Egypt withdrew from the Olympic Games after one match, following the boycott of several African countries against New Zealand. All matches involving Egypt were then forfeited. * Puerto Rico qualified after winning the silver medal at the 1975 Pan American Games, since the gold medal went to the United States, who had already qualified. * Replaced China.

Format

Men's tournament: * Two groups of six teams are formed, where the top two from each group advance to the semifinals. * Third and fourth places from each group form an additional bracket to decide 5th–8th places in the final ranking. * Fifth and sixth places from each group form an additional bracket to decide 9th–12th places in the final ranking. Women's tournament: * One round-robin group is formed containing all six teams, where the final standings are decided. Tie-breaking criteria: # Head to head results #

Goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

(not the goal difference) between the tied teams # Goal average of the tied teams for all teams in its group

Men's tournament

Preliminary round

The first two places in each of the preliminary round groups advanced to the semifinals, where Group A teams would meet Group B teams. The

and the

, two of the powerhouses at this tournament, finished the preliminary round undefeated. The host nation, Canada, also qualified for the semifinals together with

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

played only one match, against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and then flew home supporting the boycott of several African countries. Their remaining matches were forfeited.

Group A

Group B

Knockout stage

Championship bracket

Classification brackets

5th–8th Place 9th–12th Place Forfeited match.

Women's tournament

The first Olympic Basketball Tournament for Women consisted of a single round-robin group, where final standings were determined by the group rankings. The Soviet team finished undefeated and won the gold medal, while the American team won the silver medal through a victory over the Bulgarian team that broke the tie between the two teams in favor of the American team.

Final standings

References

Official Olympic Report
{{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 ...

1976 1976 in basketball International basketball competitions hosted by Canada