The 1960 Rome Olympics basketball tournament marked the sport's fifth appearance as an official Olympic event, featuring 16 nations across 64 games.
Key Facts
- Olympic appearance
- 5th time basketball was an official Olympic event
- Participating nations
- 16 teams
- Total games played
- 64 games
- Pre-Olympic tournament dates
- 13–20 August 1960, Bologna
- Venues
- Palazzetto dello Sport and PalaLottomatica, Rome
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Basketball had been growing as an international sport since its Olympic debut, and by 1960 sufficient global participation existed to warrant a 16-team field. A pre-Olympic qualifying tournament held in Bologna from 13 to 20 August 1960 was used to determine which nations, beyond automatic qualifiers, would fill the tournament bracket.
Sixty-four basketball games were played at the Palazzetto dello Sport and PalaLottomatica in Rome. The 16 teams were divided into four preliminary groups, with the top finishers advancing to semifinals and ultimately a final round-robin pool, while lower-ranked teams competed in consolation brackets for places 9th through 16th.
The structured round-robin format, including carryover results from the semifinal into the final, produced a clear final ranking for all 16 nations. The tournament reinforced basketball's standing as a major international Olympic discipline and set a precedent for how large multi-team Olympic basketball fields could be organized.