Although no one would have guessed at the time, the 2002 FIBA World Championship, held in Indianapolis, ushered in a new era of parity in international basketball. Since 1963, some combination of Brazil, the Soviet Union (and Russia), Yugoslavia (and its post-breakup republics), and the United States had won every medal. With the United States again fielding a team of NBA players, and Russia and EuroBasket 2001 champion Yugoslavia still going strong, no one seriously expected other teams to challenge for medals. In retrospect, the writing was on the wall for the era of dominance for those teams. First, after the United States had dominated every tournament with NBA players since 1992, winning 53 straight international games, many of the top-flight NBA players had lost interest and decided not to participate. Second, Russia's golden generation had passed; the team failed to medal in the 1999 and 2001 EuroBasket tournaments – the first time since the Soviet Union started participating in 1947 that the team had failed to medal in two consecutive European championships. Finally, a new format debuted in 2002, making Cinderella runs more likely. Teams were still divided into four groups of four teams each, but the top three advanced to the next group stage. From there the teams were divided into two groups of six, with the top eight advancing to the eight-team single elimination knockout stage. This made it more likely that the powerhouse teams would not medal, as a loss in the quarterfinal knockout round would send the team to the consolation bracket.