Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics was the third appearance of the sport of basketball as an official Olympic medal event. 23 nations entered the competition.
The top six teams at the 1948 Summer Olympics qualified automatically, as did the winners of the 1950 FIBA World Championship (Argentina), the top two teams at the 1951 EuroBasket (USSR and Czechoslovakia), and the host country (Finland). Thirteen other nations competed in a preliminary round to determine the last six places in the sixteen-team Olympic tournament.
Basketball
Medalists
Qualifying rounds
Nations that lost two games in the qualifying rounds were eliminated. When there were only two teams left in each group, those teams advanced to the main tournament.
Group A
Group A consisted of Cuba, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Switzerland.
Group B
Group B consisted of Hungary, Greece, Israel, and the Philippines.
Group C
Group C consisted of Canada, Italy, Turkey, Romania, and Egypt.
First round
- Canada def. Italy, 68–57
- Egypt def. Turkey, 64–45
Bye: Romania
Second round
Romania's first game was a loss to Canada. Italy and Turkey played each other, with Turkey's second loss eliminating them.
- Canada def. Romania, 72–51
- Italy def. Turkey, 49–37
Bye: Egypt
Third round
Italy and Romania, who had both lost once, played each other. Romania's second loss eliminated them, while Canada and Egypt played each other, with Egypt being served its first loss; Canada qualified.
- Italy def. Romania, 53–39
- Canada def. Egypt, 63–57
Final round
Italy played its fourth game of the tournament against Egypt. The closely contested decisive game ended with Egypt qualifying for the main competition and Italy being eliminated.
Group stage
The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarterfinal round.
Group A
Pos
|
Team
|
Pld
|
W
|
L
|
PF
|
PA
|
PD
|
Pts
|
Qualification
|
1
|
United States
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
195
|
139
|
+56
|
6
|
Qualified for the quarterfinals
|
2
|
Uruguay
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
167
|
164
|
+3
|
5
|
3
|
Czechoslovakia
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
161
|
164
|
−3
|
4
|
|
4
|
Hungary
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
143
|
199
|
−56
|
3
|
Source: Official Report, p. 676
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
27 July 1952 (1952-07-27)
|
27 July 1952 (1952-07-27)
|
Group B
Pos
|
Team
|
Pld
|
W
|
L
|
PF
|
PA
|
PD
|
Pts
|
Qualification
|
1
|
Soviet Union
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
192
|
143
|
+49
|
6
|
Qualified for the quarterfinals
|
2
|
Bulgaria
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
163
|
182
|
−19
|
5
|
3
|
Mexico
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
172
|
171
|
+1
|
4
|
|
4
|
Finland
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
147
|
178
|
−31
|
3
|
Source: Official Report, p. 676
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
27 July 1952 (1952-07-27)
|
27 July 1952 (1952-07-27)
|
Group C
Pos
|
Team
|
Pld
|
W
|
L
|
PF
|
PA
|
PD
|
Pts
|
Qualification
|
1
|
Argentina
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
239
|
196
|
+43
|
6
|
Qualified for the quarterfinals
|
2
|
Brazil
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
184
|
179
|
+5
|
5
|
3
|
Philippines
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
192
|
221
|
−29
|
4
|
|
4
|
Canada
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
201
|
220
|
−19
|
3
|
Source: Official Report, p. 676
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
27 July 1952 (1952-07-27)
|
27 July 1952 (1952-07-27)
|
Group D
Pos
|
Team
|
Pld
|
W
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
Pts
|
Qualification
|
1
|
France
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
202
|
149
|
+53
|
6
|
Qualified for the quarterfinals
|
2
|
Chile
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
170
|
150
|
+20
|
5
|
3
|
Egypt
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
176
|
221
|
−45
|
4
|
|
4
|
Cuba
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
149
|
177
|
−28
|
3
|
Source: Official Report, p. 676
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
Chile |
53–52 |
Cuba |
Scoring by half: 32–32, 32–20 |
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
25 July 1952 (1952-07-25)
|
27 July 1952 (1952-07-27)
|
27 July 1952 (1952-07-27)
|
Egypt |
66–55 |
Cuba |
Scoring by half: 35–28, 31–27 |
Quarterfinals
The top two teams in each quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals. The other two teams in each quarterfinals played in the fifth through eighth place classification.
Group E
Pos
|
Team
|
Pld
|
W
|
L
|
PF
|
PA
|
PD
|
Pts
|
Qualification
|
1
|
Uruguay
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
194
|
187
|
+7
|
5
|
Qualified for the semifinals
|
2
|
Argentina
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
226
|
174
|
+52
|
5
|
3
|
Bulgaria
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
177
|
220
|
−43
|
4
|
Qualified for 5th–8th placement playoffs
|
4
|
France
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
178
|
194
|
−16
|
4
|
Source: Official Report, p. 676
Notes:
- ^ a b Uruguay–Argentina: 66–65
- ^ a b Bulgaria–France: 67–58
28 July 1952 (1952-07-28)
|
28 July 1952 (1952-07-28)
|
29 July 1952 (1952-07-29)
|
29 July 1952 (1952-07-29)
|
30 July 1952 (1952-07-30)
|
30 July 1952 (1952-07-30)
|
Group F
Pos
|
Team
|
Pld
|
W
|
L
|
PF
|
PA
|
PD
|
Pts
|
Qualification
|
1
|
United States
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
246
|
166
|
+80
|
6
|
Qualified for the semifinals
|
2
|
Soviet Union
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
190
|
195
|
−5
|
5
|
3
|
Brazil
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
177
|
155
|
+22
|
4
|
Qualified for 5th–8th placement playoffs
|
4
|
Chile
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
159
|
256
|
−97
|
3
|
Source: Official Report, p. 676
28 July 1952 (1952-07-28)
|
28 July 1952 (1952-07-28)
|
29 July 1952 (1952-07-29)
|
29 July 1952 (1952-07-29)
|
30 July 1952 (1952-07-30)
|
30 July 1952 (1952-07-30)
|
Knockout rounds
Chile against Brazil
The Bronze game between Uruguay and Argentina
The final match between the Soviet Union and the United States
Brackets
| Classification semifinals | | 5th place match |
| | | | | | |
| | | |
|
| Chile | 60 |
| |
| Bulgaria | 53
| |
| Chile | 58 |
| |
| | Brazil | 49
|
| Brazil | 59 |
| |
| France | 44
| |
| 7th place match |
| |
| |
|
| Bulgaria | 58 |
|
| France | 44
|
Semifinals
Classification 5–8 semifinals
31 July 1952 (1952-07-31) 09:00
|
31 July 1952 (1952-07-31) 10:30
|
Medal round semifinals
31 July 1952 (1952-07-31)
|
31 July 1952 (1952-07-31)
|
Finals
7th place final
1 August 1952 (1952-08-01) 09:00
|
5th place final
2 August 1952 (1952-08-02) 09:00
|
Bronze medal match
1 August 1952 (1952-08-01) 16:00
|
Gold medal match
2 August 1952 (1952-08-02) 16:00
|
Awards
1952 Olympic Basketball Champions
|
United States Third title
|
Participating nations
For the team rosters see: Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters.
Each country was allowed to enter one team of 14 players and they all were eligible for participation. A total number of 317 players were entered.
A total of 301(*) basketball players from 23 nations competed at the Helsinki Games:
(*) NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least. Up to now only two reserve player can be named, 14 reserve players are unknown.
Team rosters
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Greece Basketball at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
External links