| Date | 21 July – 4 August 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Franklin L. Forbes Arena, Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia / Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Participants | 143 from 12 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches. | |
In 1994, Brazil won the World Championships, led by their star Hortencia. That loss, following the 1992 Olympic loss, led the United States to form a permanent national team, which started touring in 1995. During the year, the US Team won 52 consecutive games, including 25 against other national teams. At the Atlanta Olympics, fueled further by home court advantage, the Americans dominance approached that of the Soviets in the 1960-70s. The American team was led by their center, Lisa Leslie, power forward Sheryl Swoopes, and by whippet-quick guard Teresa Edwards, competing in her fourth Olympics.
| Date | 21 – 29 July 1996 |
|---|
| Date | 21 – 29 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | BRA | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 424-360 | ||
| 2 | Russian Federation | RUS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 378-342 | ||
| 3 | Italy | ITA | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 330-309 | ||
| 4 | Japan | JPN | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 365-396 | ||
| 5 | People's Republic of China | CHN | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 347-378 | ||
| 6 | Canada | CAN | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 293-352 |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 21 Jul 10:00 | Brazil | BRA | 69 – 56 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match #2 | 21 Jul 17:00 | Russian Federation | RUS | 73 – 63 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #3 | 21 Jul 22:00 | Italy | ITA | 62 – 53 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #4 | 23 Jul 10:00 | Japan | JPN | 75 – 72 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #5 | 23 Jul 12:00 | Italy | ITA | 59 – 54 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match #6 | 23 Jul 20:00 | Brazil | BRA | 82 – 68 | Russian Federation | RUS | |
| Match #7 | 25 Jul 10:00 | Russian Federation | RUS | 75 – 70 | Italy | ITA | |
| Match #8 | 25 Jul 20:00 | Brazil | BRA | 100 – 80 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #9 | 25 Jul 22:00 | People's Republic of China | CHN | 61 – 49 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match #10 | 27 Jul 15:00 | Italy | ITA | 66 – 52 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #11 | 27 Jul 17:00 | Brazil | BRA | 98 – 83 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #12 | 27 Jul 22:00 | Russian Federation | RUS | 68 – 49 | Canada | CAN | |
| Match #13 | 29 Jul 12:00 | Russian Federation | RUS | 94 – 78 | People's Republic of China | CHN | |
| Match #14 | 29 Jul 17:00 | Brazil | BRA | 75 – 73 | Italy | ITA | |
| Match #15 | 29 Jul 20:00 | Japan | JPN | 95 – 85 | Canada | CAN | AET |
| Date | 21 – 29 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | USA | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 507-339 | ||
| 2 | Australia | AUS | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 369-319 | ||
| 3 | Ukraine | UKR | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 354-358 | ||
| 4 | Cuba | CUB | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 365-377 | ||
| 5 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 347-389 | ||
| 6 | Zaire | COD | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 287-447 |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 21 Jul 12:00 | Ukraine | UKR | 81 – 65 | Zaire | COD | |
| Match #2 | 21 Jul 15:00 | United States | USA | 101 – 84 | Cuba | CUB | |
| Match #3 | 21 Jul 20:00 | Australia | AUS | 76 – 61 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #4 | 23 Jul 15:00 | United States | USA | 98 – 65 | Ukraine | UKR | |
| Match #5 | 23 Jul 17:00 | Australia | AUS | 91 – 45 | Zaire | COD | |
| Match #6 | 23 Jul 22:00 | Cuba | CUB | 70 – 55 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #7 | 25 Jul 12:00 | United States | USA | 107 – 47 | Zaire | COD | |
| Match #8 | 25 Jul 15:00 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 72 – 67 | Ukraine | UKR | |
| Match #9 | 25 Jul 17:00 | Australia | AUS | 75 – 63 | Cuba | CUB | |
| Match #10 | 27 Jul 10:00 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 95 – 71 | Zaire | COD | |
| Match #11 | 27 Jul 12:00 | Ukraine | UKR | 87 – 75 | Cuba | CUB | |
| Match #12 | 27 Jul 20:00 | United States | USA | 96 – 79 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match #13 | 29 Jul 10:00 | Ukraine | UKR | 54 – 48 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match #14 | 29 Jul 15:00 | United States | USA | 105 – 64 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #15 | 29 Jul 22:00 | Cuba | CUB | 73 – 59 | Zaire | COD |
| Date | 31 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 31 Jul 15:00 | United States | USA | 108 – 93 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #2 | 31 Jul 17:00 | Australia | AUS | 74 – 70 | Russian Federation | RUS | AET |
| Match #3 | 31 Jul 20:00 | Ukraine | UKR | 59 – 50 | Italy | ITA | |
| Match #4 | 31 Jul 22:00 | Brazil | BRA | 101 – 69 | Cuba | CUB |
| Date | 1 August 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Classification matches. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 01 Aug 15:00 | Russian Federation | RUS | 80 – 69 | Japan | JPN | |
| Match #2 | 01 Aug 17:00 | Cuba | CUB | 78 – 70 | Italy | ITA |
| Date | 31 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Classification matches. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 31 Jul 10:00 | People's Republic of China | CHN | 91 – 67 | Zaire | COD | |
| Match #2 | 31 Jul 12:00 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 88 – 79 | Canada | CAN |
| Date | 2 August 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Aug 15:00 | Brazil | BRA | 81 – 60 | Ukraine | UKR | |
| Match #2 | 02 Aug 17:00 | United States | USA | 93 – 71 | Australia | AUS |
| Date | 3 – 4 August 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Medal round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 04 Aug 18:35 | United States | USA | 111 – 87 | Brazil | BRA | |
| Match 3/4 | 04 Aug 16:00 | Australia | AUS | 66 – 56 | Ukraine | UKR | |
| Match 5/6 | 03 Aug 17:00 | Russian Federation | RUS | 91 – 74 | Cuba | CUB | |
| Match 7/8 | 03 Aug 15:00 | Japan | JPN | 81 – 69 | Italy | ITA | |
| Match 9/10 | 03 Aug 12:00 | People's Republic of China | CHN | 85 – 71 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match 11/12 | 03 Aug 10:00 | Canada | CAN | 88 – 46 | Zaire | COD |