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.
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 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 Gordon Aitchison Ian Allison Art Chapman Chuck Chapman Edward Dawson Irving Meretsky Doug Peden James Stewart Malcolm Wiseman Stanley Nantais Carlos Borja Víctor BorjaRodolfo Choperena Luis de la Vega Raúl Fernández Andrés GómezSilvio 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
Fifth-place classification
First round Winners advanced to the second round, while losers competed in the first consolation round for another chance to move on.
Byes: , (drawn against , who withdrew) and (drawn against , 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.
Philippines 32–30 Mexico Japan 43–31 Poland Uruguay 36–23 Egypt Peru 29–21 China United States 52–28 Estonia Italy 58–16 Germany Switzerland 25–12 Czechoslovakia Chile 23–18 Brazil Canada 34–23 Latvia
Second consolation round Poland 28-23 Latvia Brazil 32-14 China Mexico 32-10 Egypt Czechoslovakia 20-9 Germany 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.
Byes: United States and Peru
Quarterfinals Winners of the quarterfinals advanced to the medals round, with losers playing in classification matches.
United States 56–23 Philippines Mexico 24–17 Italy Canada 41–21 Uruguay
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
Bronze medal match
Final
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
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 Place Nation 1 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) 2 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) 3 Carlos Borja Víctor BorjaRodolfo Choperena Luis de la Vega Raúl Fernández Andrés GómezSilvio Hernández Francisco Martínez Jesús Olmos José Pamplona Greer Skousen 4 Head Coach: Walenty KłyszejkoZdzisław FilipkiewiczFlorian GrzechowiakZdzisław KasprzakJakub KopfEwaryst ŁójJanusz PatrzykontAndrzej PlucińskiZenon RóżyckiPaweł StokEdward Szostak 5 Head Coach: Dionisio CalvoCharles BorckJacinto Ciria CruzFranco MarquiciasPrimitivo MartínezJesús MarzanAmador ObordoBibiano OuanoAmbrosio PadillaFortunato YambaoAntonio CarilloMiguel PardoJohn Worrell 6 Head Coach: Juan A. CollazoGregorio AgósUmberto Bernasconi GalvarRodolfo BraselliPrudencio de PenaCarlos GabínLeandro Gómez HarleyAlejandro González RoigVíctor Latou JaumeTabaré QuintansHéctor GonzálezAlberto MartíAmílcar Mesa 7 Coaches: Decio Scuri-Guido Graziani – Un viaggio all’interno di questi Ottanta anni . FIP.it.Gino BassoAmbrogio BessiEnrico CastelliGaleazzo DondiLivio FranceschiniEmilio GiassettiGiancarlo MarinelliAdolfo MazziniMario NovelliSergio PaganellaMichele PellicciaRemo PianaEgidio Premiani 8 Head Coach: Pedro VeraManuel ArceRolando BacigalupoWilly DassoAntuco FlechaJosé Carlos GodoyMiguel GodoyLuis JacobCañón OréArmando RossiKoko CárdenasRoberto RospigliosiFernando RuizPedro Vera 9–14 Armando AlbanoBaianoCoroaCarmino de PillaNelson Monteiro de SouzaMiguel Pedro Martinez LopesAmérico MontanariniPavãoCacauJosé Oscar Zelaya Alonso 9–14 Luis CarrascoAugusto CarvachoJosé GonzálezEusebio HernándezLuis IbasetaEduardo Kapstein SuckelMichel Mehech 9–14 Jiří ČtyrokýAlois DvořáčekLudvík DvořáčekFrantišek HájekVítězslav HloušekJosef KlímaKarel KuhnJosef MocFrantišek PicekF. ProkopLadislav ProkopLadislav Trpkoš 9–14 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) 9–14 Richin ChoTakehiko KanakogiMasayasu MaedaSatoshi MatsuiUichi MunakataTakao NakaeSeikyu RiKenshichi Yokoyama 9–14 Fernand BergmannPierre CarlierRené LaederachRaymond LambercyJohn PalletJean PareMarcel Wuilleunier 15–18 FengHsuLi Shao-TangLiu Bao-ChengLiu Yun-ChangMou Tso-YunShen Yi-TungTsai Yen-HungWang Hung-PinWang Shi-HsuanWang Yu-TsengWong Nan-ChenYu Sai-Chang 15–18 Abdel Moneim Wahib HusseinAlbert Fahmy TadrosEdward RiskallaGamal el din SabriGoanni NosseirKamal RiadMohamed Rashad Shafshak 15–18 Head Coach: Hermann NiebuhrBernhard 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) 15–18 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) 19–21 Robert BrouwerGustave CrabbeRené DemanckRaymond GerardÉmile LaermansGuillaume MerckxPierre van BasselaereGustave Vereecken 19–21 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) 19–21 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 UsluoğluKamil Ocak (Galatasaray) Note: Hungary and Spain withdrew before competition started
References