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, and then broken in 2024.
Medal summary
{| class="wikitable"
|!align="center" bgcolor="gold" width=200 |Gold:
|!align="center" bgcolor="silver" width=200 |Silver:
|!align="center" bgcolor="CC9966" width=200 |Bronze:
|-valign=top
| <br> Mike Barrett<br>John Clawson<br>Don Dee<br>Calvin Fowler<br>Spencer Haywood<br>Bill Hosket<br>Jim King<br>Glynn Saulters<br>Mike Silliman<br>Ken Spain<br>Jo Jo White<br>Charlie Scott
| <br> Dragutin Čermak<br>Krešimir Ćosić<br>Vladimir Cvetković<br>Ivo Daneu<br>Radivoj Korać<br>Zoran Marojević<br>Nikola Plećaš<br>Trajko Rajković<br>Dragoslav Ražnatović<br>Petar Skansi<br>Damir Šolman<br>Aljoša Žorga
| <br> Anatoli Krikun<br>Modestas Paulauskas<br>Zurab Sakandelidze<br>Vadim Kapranov<br>Yuri Selikhov<br>Anatoli Polivoda<br>Sergei Belov<br>Priit Tomson<br>Sergei Kovalenko<br>Gennadi Volnov<br>Jaak Lipso<br>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.
{| class="wikitable"
! Means of qualification !! Date !! Venue !! Berths !! Qualified
|-
| Host nation || || || style="text-align:center;"|1 ||
|-
|rowspan=5| 1964 Olympic Tournament ||rowspan=5| 11–23 October 1964 ||rowspan=5| Tokyo ||rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;"| 5 ||
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|
|-
|rowspan=2| 1967 Pan American Games ||rowspan=2| 24 July–2 August 1967 ||rowspan=2 | Winnipeg ||rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| 2 ||
|-
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|1967 ABC Championship || rowspan="2"|23 September – 1 October 1967 || rowspan="2"| Seoul || rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 2 ||
|-
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|FIBA Africa Championship 1968 || rowspan="2"|29 March–2 April 1968 || rowspan="2"| Casablanca || rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |2 ||
|-
|
|-
|rowspan="2"| European Pre-Olympic Tournament || rowspan="2"|25 May–3 June 1968 ||rowspan="2"| Geneva ||rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 2 ||
|-
|
|-
|rowspan="2"| Pan-Continental Pre-Olympic Tournament || rowspan="2"|26 September–2 October 1968 ||rowspan="2"| Monterrey ||rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| 2 ||
|-
|
|-
! Total !! colspan="2"| !! 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 13
October 14
October 15
October 16
October 18
October 19
October 20
Group B
October 13
October 14
October 15
October 16
October 18
October 19
October 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.
Medal bracket
Classification brackets
5th–8th Place
9th–12th Place
13th–16th Place
Awards
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
!1968 Olympic Basketball Champions
|-
| <br /> United States <br /> Seventh title
|}
Final standings
{|class=wikitable
|-
!Rank !!width=150px|Team !!width=20px|Pld !!width=20px|W !!width=20px|L
|-align=center
| ||align=left| || 9 || 9 || 0
|-align=center
| ||align=left| || 9 || 7 || 2
|-align=center
| ||align=left| || 9 || 8 || 1
|-align=center
| 4th ||align=left| || 9 || 6 || 3
|-align=center
| 5th ||align=left| || 9 || 7 || 2
|-align=center
| 6th ||align=left| || 9 || 5 || 4
|-align=center
| 7th ||align=left| || 9 || 5 || 4
|-align=center
| 8th ||align=left| || 9 || 5 || 4
|-align=center
| 9th ||align=left| || 9 || 5 || 4
|-align=center
| 10th ||align=left| || 9 || 4 || 5
|-align=center
| 11th ||align=left| || 9 || 3 || 6
|-align=center
| 12th ||align=left| || 9 || 2 || 7
|-align=center
| 13th ||align=left| || 9 || 3 || 6
|-align=center
| 14th ||align=left| || 9 || 2 || 7
|-align=center
| 15th ||align=left| || 9 || 1 || 8
|-align=center
| 16th ||align=left| || 9 || 0 || 9
|}
References
External links
- Official Olympic Report