Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics

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1st Olympic Basketball Tournament
Berlin 1936
Olympic rings without rims.svg
Tournament details
Olympics 1936 Summer Olympics
Host nation Nazi Germany
City Berlin
Duration7–14 August 1936
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  
Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball Dr. James Naismith.jpg
Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball

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 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 International Olympic Committee 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 2024.

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 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
 
 
 
 

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

13 August
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

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

Final

14 August
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

PlaceNation
1US flag 48 stars.svg  United States  (USA)
Head Coach: James Needles (Universal Pictures (CA))
Asst. coach: Gene Johnson (Globe Refiners)
Sam Balter (Universal Pictures (UCLA))
Ralph Bishop (Washington)
Joe Fortenberry (Globe Refiners (West Texas State))
Tex Gibbons (Globe Refiners (Southwestern))
Francis Johnson (Captain) (Globe Refiners (Wichita))
Carl Knowles (Universal Pictures (UCLA))
Frank Lubin (Universal Pictures (UCLA))
Art Mollner (Universal Pictures (L.A. J.C.))
Donald Piper (Universal Pictures (UCLA))
Jack Ragland (Globe Refiners (Wichita State))
Willard Schmidt (Globe Refiners (Creighton))
Carl Shy (Universal Pictures (UCLA))
Duane Swanson (Universal Pictures (USC))
Bill Wheatley (Globe Refiners)
2Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada  (CAN)
Head Coach: Gordon Fuller (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Asst. coach: Julius Goldman (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Gordon Aitchison (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Ian Allison (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Art Chapman (Victoria Blue Ribbon)
Chuck Chapman (Victoria Blue Ribbon)
Edward Dawson (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Irving Meretsky (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Doug Peden (Victoria Blue Ribbon)
James Stewart (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Malcolm Wiseman (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Norman Dawson (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Don Gray (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Stanley Nantais (Windsor Ford V-8's)
Bob Osborne (University of British Columbia)
Tom Pendlebury (Windsor Ford V-8's)
3Flag 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
4Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland  (POL)
Head Coach: Walenty Kłyszejko
Zdzisław Filipkiewicz
Florian Grzechowiak
Zdzisław Kasprzak
Jakub Kopf
Ewaryst Łój
Janusz Patrzykont
Andrzej Pluciński
Zenon Różycki
Paweł Stok
Edward Szostak
5Flag of the Philippines (1936-1985, 1986-1998).svg  Philippines  (PHI)
Head Coach: Dionisio Calvo
Charles Borck
Jacinto Ciria Cruz
Franco Marquicias
Primitivo Martínez
Jesús Marzan
Amador Obordo
Bibiano Ouano
Ambrosio Padilla
Fortunato Yambao
Antonio Carillo
Miguel Pardo
John Worrell
6Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay  (URU)
Head Coach: Juan A. Collazo
Gregorio Agós
Umberto Bernasconi Galvar
Rodolfo Braselli
Prudencio de Pena
Carlos Gabín
Leandro Gómez Harley
Alejandro González Roig
Víctor Latou Jaume
Tabaré Quintans
Héctor González
Alberto Martí
Amílcar Mesa
7Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy  (ITA)
Coaches: Decio Scuri-Guido Graziani [1]
Gino Basso
Ambrogio Bessi
Enrico Castelli
Galeazzo Dondi
Livio Franceschini
Emilio Giassetti
Giancarlo Marinelli
Adolfo Mazzini
Mario Novelli
Sergio Paganella
Michele Pelliccia
Remo Piana
Egidio Premiani
8Flag of Peru (1825-1950).svg  Peru  (PER)
Head Coach: Pedro Vera
Manuel Arce
Rolando Bacigalupo
Willy Dasso
Antuco Flecha
José Carlos Godoy
Miguel Godoy
Luis Jacob
Cañón Oré
Armando Rossi
Koko Cárdenas
Roberto Rospigliosi
Fernando Ruiz
Pedro Vera
9–14Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil  (BRA)
Armando Albano
Baiano
Coroa
Carmino de Pilla
Nelson Monteiro de Souza
Miguel Pedro Martinez Lopes
Américo Montanarini
Pavão
Cacau
José Oscar Zelaya Alonso
9–14Flag of Chile.svg  Chile  (CHI)
Luis Carrasco
Augusto Carvacho
José González
Eusebio Hernández
Luis Ibaseta
Eduardo Kapstein Suckel
Michel Mehech
9–14Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia  (TCH)
Jiří Čtyroký
Alois Dvořáček
Ludvík Dvořáček
František Hájek
Vítězslav Hloušek
Josef Klíma
Karel Kuhn
Josef Moc
František Picek
F. Prokop
Ladislav Prokop
Ladislav Trpkoš
9–14Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia  (EST)
Head Coach: Herbert Niiler (Tartu NMKÜ)
Erich Altosaar (Tallinna Kalev)
Artur Amon (Tartu NMKÜ)
Aleksander Illi (Tartu NMKÜ)
Vladimir Kärk (Tartu NMKÜ)
Robert Keres (Tartu NMKÜ)
Evald Mahl (Tartu NMKÜ)
Aleksander Margiste (Tallinna Kalev)
Heino Veskila (Tartu NMKÜ)
Bernhard Nooni (Tallinna Kalev)
Leonid Saar (Tallinna NMKÜ)
Georg Vinogradov (Tallinna Russ)
9–14Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan  (JPN)
Richin Cho
Takehiko Kanakogi
Masayasu Maeda
Satoshi Matsui
Uichi Munakata
Takao Nakae
Seikyu Ri
Kenshichi Yokoyama
9–14Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland  (SUI)
Fernand Bergmann
Pierre Carlier
René Laederach
Raymond Lambercy
John Pallet
Jean Pare
Marcel Wuilleunier
15–18Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China  (ROC)
Feng
Hsu
Li Shao-Tang
Liu Bao-Cheng
Liu Yun-Chang
Mou Tso-Yun
Shen Yi-Tung
Tsai Yen-Hung
Wang Hung-Pin
Wang Shi-Hsuan
Wang Yu-Tseng
Wong Nan-Chen
Yu Sai-Chang
15–18Flag of Egypt (1922-1953).svg  Egypt  (EGY)
Abdel Moneim Wahib Hussein
Albert Fahmy Tadros
Edward Riskalla
Gamal el din Sabri
Goanni Nosseir
Kamal Riad
Mohamed Rashad Shafshak
15–18Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany  (GER)
Head Coach: Hermann Niebuhr
Bernhard Cuiper (Heeressportschule Wünsdorf)
Robert Duis (DSC Berlin)
Karl Endres (Heeressportschule Wünsdorf)
Emil Göing (Heeressportschule Wünsdorf)
Otto Kuchenbecker (Luftwaffen-Sportschule Spandau)
Emil Lohbeck (Heeressportschule Wünsdorf)
Hans Niclaus (Heeressportschule Wünsdorf)
Kurt Oleska (Heeressportschule Wünsdorf)
Siegfried Reischieß (VfB Breslau)
Heinz Steinschulte (Luftwaffen-Sportschule Spandau)
Willy Daume (TV Eintracht Dortmund)
Otto Gottwald (Post SV Bad Kreuznach)
Adolf Künzel (NSTV Breslau)
Jupp Schäfer (TV Kreuznach 1848)
15–18Flag of Latvia (3-2).svg  Latvia  (LAT)
Head Coach: Rihards Dekšenieks
Eduards Andersons (US)
Voldemārs Elmūts (US)
Mārtiņš Grundmanis (ASK)
Rudolfs Jurciņš (US)
Maksis Kazaks (LJ)
Visvaldis Melderis (ASK)
Džems Raudziņš (US)
Edgars Rūja (US)
Askolds Hermanovskis (LJ)
Aleksejs Anufrijevs (Starts)
J.Tiltiņš (US)
19–21Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium  (BEL)
Robert Brouwer
Gustave Crabbe
René Demanck
Raymond Gerard
Émile Laermans
Guillaume Merckx
Pierre van Basselaere
Gustave Vereecken
19–21Flag of France.svg  France  (FRA)
Pierre Boel (Olympique Lillois)
Pierre Caque (Reims)
Georges Carrier (CS Plaisance)
Robert Cohu (Stade Français)
Jean Couturier (Reims)
Jacques Flouret (Paris UC)
Edmond Leclere (Charleville)
Étienne Onimus (CA Mulhouse)
Fernand Prud'homme (AS Hippolyte)
Étienne Roland (US Métro)
Lucien Thèze (Romilly)
19–21Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg  Turkey  (TUR)
Head Coach: Rupen Semerciyan
Şeref Alemdar (Galatasaray)
Hayri Arsebük (Galatasaray)
Nihat Riza Ertuğ (Galatasaray)
Jak Habib (Barkhoba)
Naili Moran (Galatasaray)
Hazdai Penso (Barkhoba)
Dionis Sakalak (Kurtulus)
Sadri Usluoğlu
Kamil Ocak (Galatasaray)

Note: Hungary and Spain withdrew before competition started

References

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