The men's basketball team has not been absent from an Olympic Games for 27 years (Atlanta 96), a streak that it does not want to see cut short next summer in Paris. After failing to secure a direct ticket in the last World Cup (eliminated in the second phase), Sergio Scariolo's men already know their way into the Pre-Olympic Games, which will be played from 2 to 7 July 2024, just a couple of weeks after the Endesa League final.
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Sergio Scariolo: "In three years we'll have a team that will play the best"
- Written by: LUCAS SÁEZ-BRAVO Madrid
Sergio Scariolo: "In three years we'll have a team that will play the best"
Monday's draw put them in Group A alongside Lebanon and Angola. In Group B, with which they will cross paths in search of the only place at stake for Paris, are Poland, Finland and the Bahamas.
Also on Monday, it was announced that Spain will host one of the four pre-Olympic tournaments that grant the remaining four places for Paris. Specifically, the Fonteta de Valencia will host the matches of the national team, forced to win. The Valencian venue was chosen yesterday as one of the four venues along with Riga (Latvia), Athens (Greece) and San Juan (Puerto Rico).
The fiercest of the pre-Olympic tournaments will be the one played in Piraeus. There, Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece, Luka Doncic's Slovenia and Croatia, as well as Egypt, the Dominican Republic and New Zealand, will fight for a place in the Games.
The national team, number two in the world after the United States and current European champions, also started as the top seed along with Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia (opponents they avoided), in addition to the other hosts. With these conditions, Italy or Croatia seemed to be the most dangerous opponents, but the hype was benevolent with Scariolo's team.
The four winners of the Olympic Qualifiers will join the eight teams already qualified for the first phase of Paris 2024, which will be played at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille. France as hosts, Germany and Serbia as the two best European teams in the last World Cup (finalists), Canada and the United States (third and fourth) as the best Americans, Japan for Asia, Australia for Oceania and debutants South Sudan for Africa.
For its part, the women's team has a somewhat less complicated path, although it will also have to pass the arduous procedure of the Pre-Olympic Qualifiers. In her case, it will be in February in Sopron (Hungary) and she will share a group with the hosts, Canada and Japan. Of course, the three best will be in Paris.
- Articles Lucas Sáez-Bravo