Basketball at the 1968 Summer Olympics explained

Type:	Olympics
City:	Mexico City
Year:	1968
Size:	140px
Games:	1968 Summer Olympics
Host:	Mexico
Dates:	October 13–25, 1968
Men Teams:	16
Men Gold:	United States
Men Silver:	Yugoslavia
Men Bronze:	Soviet Union
Prev:	Tokyo 1964
Next:	Munich 1972

Basketball contests at the 1968 Summer Olympics was the seventh appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It took place at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, Mexico from October 13 to October 25, 1968. The United States defeated Yugoslavia to win their seventh consecutive gold medal in this sport, while the Soviet Union earned the bronze against Brazil.

The Americans' record of seven basketball gold medals in a row was matched by their women's team in 2021 when they won the 2020 Olympics.

Medal summary

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
	Dragutin Čermak Krešimir Ćosić Vladimir Cvetković Ivo Daneu Radivoj Korać Zoran Marojević Nikola Plećaš Trajko Rajković Dragoslav Ražnatović Petar Skansi Damir Šolman Aljoša Žorga	Anatoli Krikun Modestas Paulauskas Zurab Sakandelidze Vadim Kapranov Yuri Selikhov Anatoli Polivoda Sergei Belov Priit Tomson Sergei Kovalenko Gennadi Volnov Jaak Lipso Vladimir Andreev

Qualification

Automatic qualifications were granted to the host country and the first five places at the previous tournament. Additional spots were decided by various continental tournaments held by FIBA plus two additional tournaments that granted two extra berths each.

Means of qualification	Date	Venue	Berths	Qualified
Host nation			1
	11–23 October 1964		5
	24 July–2 August 1967		2
	23 September – 1 October 1967		2
	29 March–2 April 1968		2
European Pre-Olympic Tournament	25 May–3 June 1968		2
Pan-Continental Pre-Olympic Tournament	26 September–2 October 1968		2
Total			16

Format

• Two groups of eight teams are formed, where the top two from each group compete for the medals in a knockout round.
• The remaining places are defined as follows:
  • Fifth through eighth places are decided in a separate bracket between the third and fourth places from each group in a separate bracket.
  • Ninth through sixteenth places are decided between the fifth through eighth places from each group in separate brackets.

Squads

For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters.

Preliminary round

The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals, while the remaining teams compete for 5th through 16th places in separate brackets. Both group leaders, the United States and the Soviet Union advanced undefeated to the knockout stage.

Group A

October 13October 14October 15October 16October 18October 19October 20

Group B

October 13October 14October 15October 16October 18October 19October 20

Knockout stage

The much anticipated final between the United States and the Soviet Union would have to wait four years. Yugoslavia stunned the Soviets 63–62 in the semifinals. In the championship game the Americans had a slim 32-29 lead at intermission but put the game out of reach with a 22-3 streak to start the second half.

Classification brackets

5th–8th Place

9th–12th Place

13th–16th Place

Final standings

Rank	width=150px	Team !	width=20px	Pld !	width=20px	W !	width=20px	L
		9	9	0
		9	7	2
		9	8	1
4th		9	6	3
5th		9	7	2
6th		9	5	4
7th		9	5	4
8th		9	5	4
9th		9	5	4
10th		9	4	5
11th		9	3	6
12th		9	2	7
13th		9	3	6
14th		9	2	7
15th		9	1	8
16th		9	0	9

External links

• Official Olympic Report