# Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Basketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics was the eighteenth appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. It was held from 28 July to 12 August 2012. The preliminary matches and the women's quarterfinal matches were played in the new Basketball Arena in Olympic Park, which seated up to 12,000 spectators. The men's knockout games and the women's games, from semifinals onward were played in the North Greenwich Arena.
The US men's and US women's teams both successfully defended their Olympic basketball championships of 2008.

## Settings

Two settings in London were used for the basketball tournaments: The O2 Arena (referred to as the "North Greenwich Arena" during the Olympics) and the Basketball Arena in Olympic Park at Stratford. The North Greenwich Arena was the setting for the knockout stages for the men, and also from the semifinal games onward for the women, whereas the Basketball Arena was the setting for the preliminary rounds and the women's quarterfinals.
| Greenwich, London | North Greenwich ArenaBasketball ArenaBasketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics (London Borough of Newham) | Stratford, London |
| North Greenwich Arena | North Greenwich ArenaBasketball ArenaBasketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics (London Borough of Newham) | Basketball Arena |
| Capacity: 20,000 | North Greenwich ArenaBasketball ArenaBasketball at the 2012 Summer Olympics (London Borough of Newham) | Capacity: 12,000 |

## Qualification

The National Olympic Committees may enter up to one 12-player men's team and up to one 12-player women's team.

### Host

Initially, basketball was the only team sport in which the host country was not automatically awarded a team in the tournament. This was because the British basketball teams did not exist until 2006, and hence FIBA, the world's regulatory body of basketball, was concerned about the future of the British national basketball teams after 2012, as well as the probable lack of competitiveness of the British teams. However, in a meeting held in Lyon, France, on 13 March 2011, the FIBA's executive board agreed to allow the two British teams to enter automatically after all.

### Men's qualification

| Means of qualification | Date | Venue | Berths | Qualified |
| Host nation | 6 July 2005 | | 1 | Great Britain |
| 2010 FIBA World Championship | 28 August – 12 September 2010 | Turkey | 1 | United States |
| 2011 FIBA Africa Championship | 17–28 August 2011 | Madagascar | 1 | Tunisia |
| 2011 FIBA Americas Championship | 30 August – 11 September 2011 | Argentina | 2 | Argentina Brazil |
| 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship | 7–11 September 2011 | Australia | 1 | Australia |
| 2011 FIBA Europe Championship | 31 August – 18 September 2011 | Lithuania | 2 | Spain France |
| 2011 FIBA Asia Championship | 15–25 September 2011 | China | 1 | China |
| 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 2–8 July 2012 | Venezuela | 3 | Lithuania Russia Nigeria |

### Women's qualification

| Means of qualification | Date | Venue | Berths | Qualified |
| Host nation | 6 July 2005 | | 1 | Great Britain |
| 2010 FIBA World Championship | 23 September – 3 October 2010 | Czech Republic | 1 | United States |
| 2011 FIBA Europe Championship | 18 June – 3 July 2011 | Poland | 1 | Russia |
| 2011 FIBA Asia Championship | 21–28 August 2011 | Japan | 1 | China |
| 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship | 7–11 September 2011 | Australia | 1 | Australia |
| 2011 FIBA Americas Championship | 24 September – 1 October 2011 | Colombia | 1 | Brazil |
| 2011 FIBA Africa Championship | 23 September – 2 October 2011 | Mali | 1 | Angola |
| 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament | 25 June – 1 July 2012 | Turkey | 5 | France Turkey Czech Republic Croatia Canada |
| Total | | | 12 | |

## Competition format

Twelve qualified nations were drawn into two groups, each consisting of six teams. Each game result merits a corresponding point:
| Result | Points |
| Win | 2 |
| Loss, or loss by default | 1 |
| Loss via forfeiture** | 0 |
*The team has less than two players available to play on the court. **A team cannot present five players at the start of the game, or its actions prevent play from being resumed.
In case teams are tied on points, the tiebreaking criteria are, in order of first application:
* Results of the games involving the tied teams (head-to-head records)
* Goal average of the games involving the tied teams
* Goal average of all of the games played
* Points scored
* Drawing of lots
The teams with the four best records qualified for the knockout stage, which was a single-elimination tournament. The semifinal winners contested for the gold medal, while the losers played for the bronze medal.

### Calendar

| P | Preliminaries | ¼ | Quarterfinals | ½ | Semifinals | F | Final |
| Event↓/Date → | Sat 28 | Sun 29 | Mon 30 | Tue 31 | Wed 1 | Thu 2 | Fri 3 | Sat 4 | Sun 5 | Mon 6 | Tue 7 | Wed 8 | Thu 9 | Fri 10 | Sat 11 | Sun 12 |
| Men | | P | | P | | P | | P | | P | | ¼ | | ½ | | F |
| Women | P | | P | | P | | P | | P | | ¼ | | ½ | | F | |

### Men's competition

The draw for the groups of the men's tournament was made on 30 April 2012. Included are the teams' FIBA World Rankings prior to the tournament.
| Group A | Group B |
| Argentina (3) | Australia (9) |
| France (12) | Brazil (13) |
| Lithuania (5) | China (10) |
| Nigeria (21) | Great Britain (43) |
| Tunisia (32) | Russia (11) |
| United States (1) | Spain (2) |

### Women's competition

The draw for the groups of the women's tournament was made on 30 April 2012. Included are the teams' FIBA World Rankings before the tournament.
| Group A | Group B |
| Angola (27) | Australia (2) |
| China (7) | Brazil (6) |
| Croatia (31) | Canada (11) |
| Czech Republic (4) | France (8) |
| Turkey (21) | Great Britain (49) |
| United States (1) | Russia (3) |

## Referees

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) named the following 30 referees to officiate the basketball games at the 2012 Olympics.
* MAR Samir Abaakil
* TUR Recep Ankaralı
* ESP Juan Carlos Arteaga
* AUS Michael Aylen
* SRB Ilija Belošević
* IND Snehal Bendke
* PUR José Anibal Carrion
* ITA Guerrino Cerebuch
* RUS Elena Chernova
* GRE Christos Christodoulou
* FRA Carole Delauné
* ARG Pablo Alberto Estévez
* BRA Marcos Fornies Benito
* KEN Vitalis Odhiambo Gode
* USA Felicia Andrea Grinter
* FIN Carl Jungebrand
* USA William Gene Kennedy
* ITA Luigi Lamonica
* LAT Oļegs Latiševs
* GER Robert Lottermoser
* BRA Cristiano Jesus Maranho
* AUS Vaughan Charles Mayberry
* LIB Rabah Noujaim
* CHN Peng Ling
* SLO Saša Pukl
* UKR Borys Ryschyk
* ARG Fernando Jorge Sampietro
* CAN Stephen Seibel
* JPN Shoko Sugruro
* PUR Jorge Vázquez

## Medal summary
### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | France | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Spain | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Australia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Russia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (5 entries) | Totals (5 entries) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |

### Events

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Men details | United States (USA) Tyson Chandler Kevin Durant LeBron James Russell Westbrook Deron Williams Andre Iguodala Kobe Bryant Kevin Love James Harden Chris Paul Anthony Davis Carmelo Anthony | Spain (ESP) Pau Gasol Rudy Fernández Sergio Rodríguez Juan Carlos Navarro José Calderón Felipe Reyes Víctor Claver Fernando San Emeterio Sergio Llull Marc Gasol Serge Ibaka Víctor Sada | Russia (RUS) Alexey Shved Timofey Mozgov Sergey Karasev Vitaly Fridzon Alexander Kaun Evgeny Voronov Victor Khryapa Semyon Antonov Sergey Monya Dmitry Khvostov Anton Ponkrashov Andrei Kirilenko |
| Women details | United States (USA) Lindsay Whalen Seimone Augustus Sue Bird Maya Moore Angel McCoughtry Asjha Jones Tamika Catchings Swin Cash Diana Taurasi Sylvia Fowles Tina Charles Candace Parker | France (FRA) Isabelle Yacoubou Endéné Miyem Clémence Beikes Sandrine Gruda Edwige Lawson-Wade Céline Dumerc Florence Lepron Émilie Gomis Marion Laborde Élodie Godin Emmeline Ndongue Jennifer Digbeu | Australia (AUS) Jenna O'Hea Samantha Richards Jennifer Screen Abby Bishop Suzy Batkovic Kathleen MacLeod Kristi Harrower Laura Summerton Belinda Snell Rachel Jarry Liz Cambage Lauren Jackson |

## Final standings

| Rank | Men | Men | Men | Men | Women | Women | Women | Women |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | L | Team | Pld | W | L |
| | United States | 8 | 8 | 0 | United States | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| | Spain | 8 | 5 | 3 | France | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| | Russia | 8 | 6 | 2 | Australia | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| 4th | Argentina | 8 | 4 | 4 | Russia | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| Eliminated at the quarterfinals |||||||||
| 5th | Brazil | 6 | 4 | 2 | Turkey | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 6th | France | 6 | 4 | 2 | China | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| 7th | Australia | 6 | 3 | 3 | Czech Republic | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| 8th | Lithuania | 6 | 2 | 4 | Canada | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Preliminary round 5th placers |||||||||
| 9th | Great Britain | 5 | 1 | 4 | Brazil | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| 10th | Nigeria | 5 | 1 | 4 | Croatia | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| Preliminary round 6th placers |||||||||
| 11th | Tunisia | 5 | 0 | 5 | Great Britain | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 12th | China | 5 | 0 | 5 | Angola | 5 | 0 | 5 |