Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics

Last updated

1st Olympic Basketball Tournament
Berlin 1936
Tournament details
Olympics 1936 Summer Olympics
Host nation Germany
City Berlin
DurationAugust 7–14
Men's tournament
Teams21
Medals
Gold medal icon.svg Gold medalists Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Silver medalistsFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Bronze medal icon.svg Bronze medalistsFlag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
Tournaments
  1904 (demonstration)  London 1948  
The Berlin Arena for the 1936 Basketball Olympics Basketball Olympiade 1936 Berlin Stadion Arena.jpg
The Berlin Arena for the 1936 Basketball Olympics

Basketball 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, Germany. 23 nations entered the competition, making basketball the largest tournament of the team sports, but Hungary and Spain withdrew, meaning 21 competed.

Contents

The IOC and International Basketball Federation, 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, the inventor of basketball. The United States won its first gold medal, while Canada and Mexico won silver and bronze, their only medals in basketball, as of 2020.


Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball Dr. James Naismith.jpg
Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball

Medalists

GoldSilverBronze
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States  (USA)
Sam Balter
Ralph Bishop
Joe Fortenberry
Tex Gibbons
Francis Johnson
Carl Knowles
Frank Lubin
Art Mollner
Donald Piper
Jack Ragland
Willard Schmidt
Carl Shy
Duane Swanson
Bill Wheatley
Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada  (CAN)
Gordon Aitchison
Ian Allison
Art Chapman
Chuck Chapman
Edward Dawson
Irving Meretsky
Doug Peden
James Stewart
Malcolm Wiseman
Stanley Nantais
Flag of Mexico (1934-1968).svg  Mexico  (MEX)
Carlos Borja
Víctor Borja
Rodolfo Choperena
Luis de la Vega
Raúl Fernández
Andrés Gómez
Silvio Hernández
Francisco Martínez
Jesús Olmos
José Pamplona
Greer Skousen

Note: The International Olympic Committee medal database shows 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

 
Third roundQuarter-finalsSemi-finalsGold medal match
 
              
 
 
 
 
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States
 
 
 
bye
 
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States 56
 
 
 
Flag of the Philippines (navy blue).svg  Philippines 23
 
Flag of the Philippines (navy blue).svg  Philippines 39
 
 
 
Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 22
 
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States 25
 
 
 
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 10
 
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy 27
 
 
 
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 19
 
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy 17
 
 
 
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 34
 
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 28
 
14 August
 
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 22
 
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States 19
 
 
 
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada 8
 
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada 27
 
 
 
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 9
 
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada 41
 
 
 
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 21
 
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 28
 
 
 
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia 19
 
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada 42
 
 
 
Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 15 Bronze medal match
 
Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 33
 
 14 August
 
Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil 25
 
Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 26
 
 
 
byeFlag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 12
 
Flag of Peru.svg  Peru
 
 
bye
 

Fifth-place classification

Classification semifinal 5th place game
      
Flag of the Philippines (navy blue).svg  Philippines 32
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy 14
Flag of the Philippines (navy blue).svg  Philippines 32
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 23

First round

Winners advanced to the second round, while losers competed in the first consolation round for another chance to move on.

Byes: Philippines, United States  Flag of the United States.svg (drawn against Spain, who withdrew) and Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia (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.

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.

Philippines  Flag of the Philippines.svg3922Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia
Scoring by half:21–4, 18–18
Chile  Flag of Chile.svg1927Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy
Scoring by half: 12–16, 7–11
Mexico  Flag of Mexico.svg2822Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
Scoring by half:12–8, 16–14
Switzerland  Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg927Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada
Scoring by half: 1–13, 8–14
Uruguay  Flag of Uruguay.svg2819Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia
Scoring by half:14–8, 14–11
Brazil  Flag of Brazil.svg2533Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland
Scoring by half: 10–17, 15–16

Byes: United States and Peru

Quarterfinals

Winners of the quarterfinals advanced to the medals round, with losers playing in classification matches.

Bye: Poland (Peru withdrew from the Olympic Games to protest the decision of the Olympic Committee and FIFA in the football tournament).

Classification 5–8

Preliminary match

  • Philippines 32–14 Italy

Bye: Uruguay (Peru withdrew from the competition - see above).

Fifth place match

  • Philippines 33–23 Uruguay

Medals round

Semifinals

August 13
United States  Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg2510Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
Scoring by half:13–2, 12–8
Poland  Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg1542Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada
Scoring by half: 6-23, 9-19

Bronze medal match

August 14
Bronze medal icon.svg Mexico  Flag of Mexico.svg2612Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland
Scoring by half:23–8, 3–4

Final

August 14
18:00
Gold medal icon.svg United States  Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg198Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada Silver medal icon.svg
Scoring by half:15–4, 4–4
Pts: Fortenberry 8
Berlin, Germany
Attendance: 900+

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 eight 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

 1936 Olympic Basketball champions 
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg
United States
First title

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 and Spain withdrew before competition started

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References

  1. (in Italian) Un viaggio all’interno di questi Ottanta anni Archived October 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine . FIP.it.