Few sporting events capture the public imagination, like the Olympic Games, and few team disciplines within them draw more attention than basketball.
First held in Berlin in 1936 and a cornerstone of the Summer Olympics since London in 1948, the event arguably represents the pinnacle of international prestige for competing sides, on a par with the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
From the Dream Team at Barcelona 1992 through modern-day NBA superstars, no shortage of big-name players have stepped onto an Olympic court - but just which nations have walked away with medals around their necks?
Here, GOAL looks to see which country is the most successful in both the men’s and women’s basketball at the Olympic Games.
Basketball Olympic Medal Table - Men’s
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 16 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| 2 | Soviet Union | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| 3 | Yugoslavia | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Argentina | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Spain | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | France | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Italy | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8= | Canada | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8= | Croatia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8= | Serbia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8= | Serbia and Montenegro | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12= | Brazil | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 12= | Lithuania | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | Uruguay | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 15= | Australia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 15= | Cuba | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 15= | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 15- | Russia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The United States holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals in men’s basketball, with 16, dominating the competition since its inception.
With the world’s largest professional basketball league based in North America - the National Basketball Association (NBA) - it is unsurprising that the nation has enjoyed such success.
Having fielded amateurs for the first five decades, NBA players were officially sanctioned to participate from Barcelona 1992 onwards, when the iconic “Dream Team” swept the competition to win.
Getty ImagesTeam USA has failed to win just once since, taking bronze at Athens in 2004 when they were stunned by Argentina in the semi-finals.
El Alma Argentina would go on to win that year and is the only other nation to have a gold medal in men’s basketball in the Summer Olympics. The other two wins came for the Soviet Union at Munich in 1972, Seoul in 1988, and Yugoslavia at Moscow in 1980.
Beneath them, the most successful teams are Spain and France, who have both claimed silver on three occasions, with the former also nabbing bronze once.
Brazil and Lithuania, meanwhile, have never reached the finals but have secured bronze finishes on three occasions. The three most recent medalists in Tokyo 2020 were the United States, which won gold, France, which won silver, and Australia, which won bronze.
Basketball Olympic Medal Table - Women’s
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 2 | Soviet Union | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Unified Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Australia | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 5= | Brazil | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5= | Bulgaria | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | China | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5= | France | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5= | Yugoslavia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10= | Japan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10= | South Korea | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10= | Spain | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 13 | Russia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | Serbia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The United States holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals in women’s basketball, with nine, and has also demolished opposition since the game's debut.
Like the NBA-fuelled success of their men’s counterparts, latter-day Team USA lineups have been littered with WNBA stars, aided by weaker competitions in rival nations.
They did not win until Los Angeles in 1984, the third game after its introduction; however, the Soviet Union took victory at Montreal in 1976 and Moscow in 1980.
The only other nation to win was the Unified Team at Barcelona 1992, which represented several former Soviet states that united for the games following its collapse. It edged China in a thrilling final.
Getty ImagesBeyond those three, Australia is the most successful team, with three silvers and a full five-medal haul, continuously placing on the podium between Atlanta 1996 and London 2012.
Brazil, Bulgaria, China, France, and Yugoslavia share the distinction of all having earned a silver and a bronze medal to date.
With the world’s largest professional basketball league (NBA) based in North America, it is unsurprising that the nation has enjoyed such success.