Draw announced for London 2012 Olympic Basketball Tournament

The Men’s tournament sees hosts Great Britain face 2008 Olympic Silver medallists Spain, while 2008 Olympic Champions USA face world number three Argentina While the
Women’s tournament sees Olympic Silver medallists Australia meet European champions Russia, while 2008 Olympic Champions USA face Asia champions China

The draw produced some interesting games for the group stages. The Men’s Tournament will include hosts Great Britain against European champions and Beijing silver medallists Spain, while Olympic champions and world number one USA will face Beijing bronze medallists and world number three Argentina. In the Women’s tournament, current European champions and Beijing bronze medallists Russia will face Beijing silver medallists Australia, while Olympic champions and world number one USA will face current Asia champions China. Great Britain’s Women’s team will face world number two Australia in their first game.

The Men’s and Women’s Olympic Basketball tournaments will each feature 12 teams. For the Men’s competition, nine teams have already qualified for London 2012 with the remaining three places to be decided at an Olympic Qualifying tournament in Venezuela from the 2nd–8th July. For the Women’s competition, seven teams have already qualified with the remaining five places to be decided at an Olympic Qualifying tournament in Turkey from the 25th June to 1st July.

Today’s draw hosted by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in Rio saw teams drawn into two groups for the Preliminary rounds of the Men’s and Women’s tournament. The confirmed draws for the group stages are:

Olympic Men’s tournament:

Group A
Argentina
France
Tunisia
USA
2 remaining qualifiers

Group B
Australia
Brazil
China
Great Britain
Spain
1 remaining qualifier

(The remaining 3 qualifiers for the Men’s tournament will be decided at the Olympic qualifying tournament featuring Angola, Dominican Republic, Greece, Jordan, Korea, Lithuania, FYROM, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Russia and Venezuela – a draw on the final day of the qualifying tournament on July 8th will determine which of the 3 qualifying teams join which groups)

Olympic Women’s tournament:

Group A
Angola,
China,
USA
3 remaining qualifiers

Group B
Australia,
Brazil,
Great Britain,
Russia
2 remaining qualifiers

(The remaining 5 qualifiers in the Women’s tournament will be decided at the Olympic qualifying tournament featuring Argentina, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Korea, Mali, Mozambique, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Turkey – a draw on the final day of the qualifying tournament on 1st July will determine which of the 5 qualifying teams join which groups)

Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport at LOCOG said: “The Olympic Basketball tournaments will see some of the biggest basketball stars in the world come to London to compete for Gold. Today’s draw gives us a glimpse of some of the exciting encounters, world-class players and top teams we’ll see in action this summer.”

Following the draw, FIBA Secretary General and IOC Member Patrick Baumann said: “For every major Championship, the draw is a major milestone. Players begin picturing themselves on the court and thinking about match-ups. Fans start imagining the atmosphere. The 2008 Men’s Final between the USA and Spain was one of the greatest Olympic moments. It showed the huge strides international basketball had made in becoming more and more competitive. I expect this year’s Olympic Basketball Tournaments will be a great and memorable spectacle for all.”

During the London 2012 Games, the Basketball Arena on the Olympic Park will host the Men’s preliminary games and Women’s event up to quarter final stage. The men’s quarter-finals and women’s semi-finals onwards will then move to the North Greenwich Arena.

The Women’s tournament tips-off with the first group game on Saturday 28 July, ending with the Women’s Gold Medal game on Saturday 11th August. The Men’s tournament tips-off with the first group game on Sunday 29th July, ending with the Men’s Gold Medal game on Sunday 12th August.