Six countries punch tickets for the Olympics at 3x3 basketball qualifiers in Austria
Six nations – three men's and three women's teams – out of 40 hopefuls secured their places for this year's global showpiece.
Basketball 3x3
The FIBA 3x3 Olympic qualifying tournament in Austria over the weekend produced a major upset as the United States men's team and reigning world champions were knocked out of contention.
While there was despair for the men's team missing out on Olympic qualification, America's women's team was in imperious form, winning six out of as many matches and topping the standings to secure a berth for Tokyo 2020.
The 3x3 US women's team beat Belarus 21-10 in the quarter-final to set up a semi-final clash with Spain. The US won the semi-final 21-13 to qualify for the inaugural Olympic 3x3 basketball event at Tokyo 2020.
"All the training, all the effort by all the coaches, all the quarantine, it paid off," American Allisha Gray told USA Basketball.
"We didn't come all the way out here not to win and be able to qualify for the Olympics. We came out here and achieved what we had to do."
France claimed a narrow 15-14 victory over Japan in the tournament's first semi-final to cement their place at the Games.
Japan came out on tops in the bronze-medal match beating Spain by a nail-biting 20-18 in overtime to secure their spot for the Olympics held on home soil.
The three teams will be joining Russia, Romania, People's Republic of China and Mongolia, who have already qualified for the Olympics based on the FIBA 3x3 federation ranking on November 1, 2019.
Dunking Dutch make basketball history
Coming into the tournament buoyed by their world champions status, the US 3x3 men's team needed to finish among the top three teams to book their place at the Games.
The team, however, suffered a 21-16 defeat to the Netherlands in their quarterfinal tussle despite topping their pool.
While the US hopes were dashed, the Netherlands celebrated what would be their first-ever appearance in basketball at the Olympics, with the Orange Lions beating France in the semi-final clash.
Poland secured their place at the Games beating Latvia in their semi-final match, with the latter overcoming France in the third-place game to claim the final berth on offer.
The Netherlands, Poland and Latvia will be joining Russia, People's Republic of China, Serbia and Japan, who secured their places thanks to their FIBA 3x3 federation rankings on November 1, 2019.
The last 3x3 Olympic spots per gender will be decided at the universality Olympic qualifying tournament in Debrecen, Hungary, between 4 and 6 June.