Basketball in the Olympics
The 2008 Olympics Men's Basketball will be held in the host country of Beijing, China and will take place August 8-24. Both the preliminary play and the final round's location are still to be determined. There will be 12 teams competing in the 2008 Olympics Men's Basketball. The 12 qualifying countries will be the host country of China, the 2006 FIBA World Champions, Spain, the FIBA Africa Zone Champion, and the FIBA Americas Zone Champion, the FIBA Americas Zone Runner-up, FIBA Asia Zone Champion, FIBA Europe Zone Champion, FIBA Europe Zone Runner-up, FIBA Oceania Zone Champion, 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Champion, 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Runner-up, and the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Third Place Finisher. For those of you who are not familiar with the term FIBA, it is French and means Fadaration Internationale de Basketball Amateur.
A total of 12 teams will compete in the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament and those 12 teams will be based on finishes in each of FIBA's five zone qualifying tournaments. The final three qualifying berths for the 2008 Olympics men's basketball competition will be determined through the 2008 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men (July 7-13, site TBD). The 12 teams will be divided in four groups of three teams each and will play a single round robin. The two best placed teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals, semifinals, finals and consolation games which will determine the first three places and thus the teams that will qualify for the Olympics. The FIBA Africa Zone will place two teams (runner-up and third place), the FIBA Americas Zone will advance three teams (third place, fourth place and fifth place), the FIBA Asia Zone will place two teams (runner-up and third place), the FIBA Europe Zone will advance four teams (third place, fourth place, fifth place and sixth place), and FIBA Oceania Zone will advance one team (runner-up).
The United States has proudly walked away with a total of 12 gold medals in the past only to be followed by the Soviet Union who has walked away with two since 1936. Keep in mind also that the US chose not to participate in the 1980 Olympics that were hosted in the Soviet Union. The Men's Olympic basketball competition is held only every four years and after the 2008 Olympics the men's basketball competition will not be held again until 2012. The USA men have captured the gold in 12 of the 15 Olympics and compiled an incredible 114-5 record.
All of the men's basketball tournaments for the 2008 Olympics will be held at the Wukesong Indoor Stadium in Beijing, China. The first played on August 9, 2008 and the final on August 24, 2008. Tickets are still available and range in price from $50-$1,000. Keep in mind that Beijing is a spectacular place to visit and the people there take great pride in ensuring that this Olympic event is one of a kind. They have also made accommodations so that visitors to Beijing can also take advantage of the tourist locations, the fine cuisine, and the extraordinary shopping.
Disclaimer
We are not the official box office for any Olympic Games Event. We are not affiliated with any Olympic Athlete, Olympic Game promoter or venue. We are independent ticket brokers that buy and sell tickets to popular events worldwide.
