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Basketball, Men

Date7 – 14 August 1936
StatusOlympic
LocationTennisplätze, Reichssportfeld, Berlin
Participants199 from 21 countries
FormatDouble-elimination in first two rounds, single-elimination from eighth-finals on, classification single-elimination matches for 5th-8th.

A basketball tournament had been contested during the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, but it is usually considered a demonstration, and not a true Olympic event. Thus, the first Olympic Basketball championship took place in 1936. As the inventor of the game, the United States was considered the favorite, although there had been almost no international competitions prior to 1936. In 1935, the first European Championship had been contested, with Latvia winning, Spain second, and Czechoslovakia third. Latvia competed at the 1936 Olympics but did not even survive the second round. There had been South American Championships since 1930, twice won by Uruguay and once by Argentina, prior to the 1936 Olympics.

The United States team consisted of seven members of the Universal Studios team, which had won the US Olympic Trials. They were joined by six players from the McPherson Oilers, who lost in the finals of the Trials. One other player, Ralph Bishop from the University of Washington, was also added to the team. There was really no competition for the USA team until the final match against Canada. The 1936 Olympic basketball event was played outdoors on a sand court, and unfortunately, the final was played underneath a heavy rain, which turned the court into a quagmire and markedly limited scoring. The United States defeated Canada, 19-8, to win the first Olympic basketball gold medal.

PosNrTeamNOCWLPtsPoints
1United StatesUSA4010152–69Gold
2CanadaCAN5110178–104Silver
3MexicoMEX5210192–127Bronze
4PolandPOL346149–203
5PhilippinesPHI418159–145
6UruguayURU438144–148
=7ItalyITA428162–129
=7PeruPER23464–49
=9EstoniaEST12284–120
=9ChileCHI21472–61
=9JapanJPN214100–78
=9SwitzerlandSUI21459–57
=9CzechoslovakiaTCH12451–62
=9BrazilBRA13292–94
=15LatviaLAT12266–79
=15ChinaCHN13299–134
=15EgyptEGY13288–126
=15GermanyGER03243–103
=19BelgiumBEL02019–49
=19FranceFRA02067–79
=19TurkeyTUR02039–63
DNSSpainESP–––
DNSHungaryHUN–––

Round One (7 August 1936)

Double-elimination round.

Match #107 Aug 16:00EST 34 – 29FRA
Match #207 Aug 16:00CHI 30 – 16TUR
Match #307 Aug 16:00SUI 25 – 18GER
Match #407 Aug 17:00ITA 44 – 28POL
Match #507 Aug 17:00PER 35 – 22EGY
Match #607 Aug 18:00LAT 20 – 17URU
Match #707 Aug 18:00CAN 24 – 17BRA
Match #807 Aug 18:00MEX 32 – 9BEL
Match #907 Aug 18:00JPN 35 – 19CHN
Match #10USA walkover
Match #11TCH walkover
Match #12PHI bye

Round One Repêchage (8 August 1936)

Repêchage round.

Match #108 Aug 16:00URU 17 – 10BEL
Match #208 Aug 16:00CHN 45 – 38FRA
Match #308 Aug 17:00EGY 33 – 23TUR
Match #4BRA walkover
Match #5GER walkover
Match #6POL bye

Round Two (9 August 1936)

Double-elimination round.

Match #109 Aug 16:00PHI 32 – 30MEX
Match #209 Aug 16:00JPN 43 – 31POL
Match #309 Aug 16:00URU 36 – 23EGY
Match #409 Aug 17:00PER 29 – 21CHN
Match #509 Aug 17:00USA 52 – 28EST
Match #609 Aug 17:00ITA 58 – 16GER
Match #709 Aug 18:00SUI 25 – 12TCH
Match #809 Aug 18:00CHI 23 – 18BRA
Match #909 Aug 18:00CAN 34 – 23LAT

Round Two Repêchage (10 August 1936)

Repêchage round.

Match #110 Aug 16:00POL 28 – 23LAT
Match #210 Aug 16:00BRA 32 – 14CHN
Match #310 Aug 17:00MEX 32 – 10EGY
Match #410 Aug 17:00TCH 20 – 9GER
Match #5EST bye

Round Three (11 August 1936)

Double-elimination round.

Match #111 Aug 16:00PHI 39 – 22EST
Match #211 Aug 16:00ITA 27 – 19CHI
Match #311 Aug 16:00MEX 28 – 22JPN
Match #411 Aug 17:00CAN 27 – 9SUI 1
Match #511 Aug 17:00URU 28 – 19TCH
Match #611 Aug 17:00POL 33 – 25BRA
Match #7USA bye
Match #8PER bye

Quarter-Finals (12 August 1936)

Single-elimination.

Match #112 Aug 17:00USA 56 – 23PHI
Match #212 Aug 17:00MEX 34 – 17ITA
Match #312 Aug 18:00CAN 243 – 21URU
Match #4POL
walkover
PER

Semi-Finals (13 August 1936)

Single-elimination.

Match #113 Aug 17:00USA 25 – 10MEX
Match #213 Aug 18:00CAN 42 – 15POL

Classification Round 5-8 (13 August 1936)

Classification matches.

Match #113 Aug 17:00PHI 32 – 14ITA
Match #2URU
walkover
PER

Final Round (14 August 1936)

Medal round.

Match 1/214 Aug 18:25USA 19 – 8CAN
Match 3/414 Aug 17:00MEX 26 – 12POL
Match 5/614 Aug 16:00PHI 33 – 23URU
Match 7/8ITA
walkover
PER

Rankings

Points
Scoring Average
Free Throws Made
Personal Fouls