cover image

Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics

International basketball tournament / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:

Can you list the top facts and stats about Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics?

Summarize this article for a 10 years old

SHOW ALL QUESTIONS

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.

Quick facts: 1st Olympic Basketball Tournament, Tourn...
1st Olympic Basketball Tournament
Berlin 1936
Tournament details
Olympics1936 Summer Olympics
Host nationGermany
CityBerlin
DurationAugust 7–14
Men's tournament
Teams21
Medals
1 Gold medalists Flag_of_the_United_States.svg United States
2 Silver medalistsFlag_of_Canada_%28Pantone%29.svg Canada
3 Bronze medalists Flag_of_Mexico.svg Mexico
Tournaments
 1904 (demonstration)  London 1948 
Close
Basketball_Olympiade_1936_Berlin_Stadion_Arena.jpg
The Berlin Arena for the 1936 Basketball Olympics

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.jpg
Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball