The last 3×3 basketball slots for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were decided in Debrecen, Hungary on Sunday (19 May) with three quotas up for grabs in each gender.
The FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament came to an exciting climax with France, Lithuania and Poland reaching the podium in the men’s competition to secure quotas for Paris 2024.
In the women’s tournament competition Germany, Spain and Canada finished as the top three nations for their qualifying spots.
Teams were whittled down from 32 – 16 men and 16 women – with the top three sides in each gender securing the last remaining Paris 2024 quotas.
In the men’s tournament, Lithuania and France earned their quotas after winning their respective semi-finals while Poland had to battle it out against Mongolia for the last remaining ticket.
Mongolia came painstakingly close to qualifying for their maiden Olympics in 3×3 basketball after suffering nail-biting defeats to France (21-20) in the semi-final and Poland (22-20) in the third-place playoff.
The Mongolians were on the cusp of qualifying, leading 20-19, before Timothé Vergiat landed a two-point shot to send the French into the Olympic tournament on home soil.
World Cup silver medallists Lithuania made lighter work of their path to qualification beating Poland 21-15 in the other semi-final.
The women’s semi-finals were also tight affairs with Germany edging Hungary 19-17 while Spain snatched a 19-18 victory over Canada courtesy of a late Gracia Alonso shot. Canada then made short shrift of Hungary with a 21-10 win in their third-place match.
National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, and athletes’ participation at Paris 2024 depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation.
Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
Source: FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament 3 Debrecen: FIBA 3×3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament
