Inaugural Olympic 3x3 Schedule Released
• Schedule
While the U.S. Olympic 3x3 Women’s Basketball Team is still to be announced, the schedule for the team today was unveiled by FIBA. In its first Olympic showing, 3x3 basketball will feature eight women’s teams competing at Aomi Urban Sports Park from July 24-28.
On July 24, the U.S. women will face France at 4:55 a.m. (all times are EDT) and Mongolia at 8 a.m. On July 25, the USA will meet Romania at 4:30 a.m. and Russian Olympic Committee at 8:25 a.m. On July 26, the USA will play Italy at 4:55 a.m. and China at 8 a.m., and the USA will wrap up its round-robin preliminary games against host Japan at 12:30 a.m. on July 27.
After preliminary play, the top two teams advance directly to the semifinals, while the fourth and fifth place teams and the third and sixth place teams meet in quarterfinals that will be played on July 27. The seventh and eighth place teams are eliminated.
On July 28, the women’s semifinals are set for 4 a.m. and 5:10 a.m., and bronze and gold medal games will be played on July 28 at 7:45 a.m. and 8:55 a.m., respectively.
Four women’s teams qualified for the Tokyo Olympic 3x3 competition in November of 2019 based on their FIBA 3x3 national federation rankings, including China, Mongolia, Romania and Russia. Three more teams qualified from the May 2021 FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, including the USA, France and Japan. The eighth and final team, Italy, earned its berth at the June FIBA 3x3 Universal Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
An exciting and fast-paced game, 3x3 officially was unveiled in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and since has become a fan favorite at FIBA 3x3 World Cup events.
3x3 basketball is played with a 12-second shot clock on a half court. Baskets inside the arc and free throws are worth one point, and baskets made from outside the arc are worth two points. The winner is the first team to score 21 points, or the leading team at the end of the 10-minute game clock. Each team consists of four players, three on the court and one substitute per team.
Athletes eligible for the U.S. Olympic 3x3 roster must be U.S. citizens who participated in at least one of the following events: the 2021 Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals, one of the Red Bull 3X regional tournaments that feed into the 2021 3X Nationals or the 2021 FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
For each federation, the 3x3 Olympic rosters must include two players ranked in the country’s top 10 3x3 athletes, according to FIBA’s 3x3 player rankings as of June 21, 2021. For women’s teams, the other two team members must have a minimum of 3,600 points or be ranked in the top 50 of their national individual ranking, according to the FIBA player rankings as of June 21, 2021.
Stay tuned to @usab3x3 on Twitter and Instagram for the latest news.
