What we learned: 3X3 Basketball wrap-up from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

3X3's Olympic debut lived up to the billing at Tokyo 2020; the competition was fast-paced and gold medals were decided by a game-clinching shot. Take a look at 3X3's most memorable moments at Tokyo 2020, a medal recap, and what we have to look forward to at Paris 2024.

7 minBy William Imbo

Basketball 3x3

(2021 Getty Images)

3X3 Basketball made its first Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 - a condensed, faster, and more physical version of traditional full-court (5X5) basketball that has been a part of the Olympic programme since 1936.

The debut discipline was a huge hit in Tokyo, and its new legions of followers are already eagerly anticipating its return at Paris 2024.

Let's take a look back at the most memorable 3X3 moments from Tokyo, a recap of the medal winners, and who to look out for at the Paris 2024 Olympics in just three years!

(2021 Getty Images)

Top 5 3X3 moments at Tokyo 2020 in 2021

Here are some of the highlights from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which took place in 2021.

1 - Karlis Lasmanis' gold-medal-winning shot

Every basketball player dreams of hitting a buzzer-beating shot to win the game for his or her team. In 3X3 basketball, players also have the chance to hit a game-winner before the end of the 10-minute game clock; since the first team to 21 points wins.

But to hit such a shot and seal your nation an Olympic gold medal? Well, that's got to be the stuff of dreams.

Latvia's Karlis Lasmanis lived that dream, after sinking a two-point shot behind the arc to claim a thrilling 21-18 victory over ROC to land his team the inaugural Olympic gold medal of men's 3x3 basketball.

"It feels amazing. What can I say? I am really proud, I hope Latvia is proud of us," said Lasmanis. "Finally, we bring gold back again to Latvia. That is huge for us."

2 - Team USA's near-perfect tournament

Coming into the women's 3X3 Olympic tournament the USA were ranked 10th in the world, which seemed strangely low; even more so when the quartet of Kelsey Plum, Stephanie Dolson, Jackie Young and Allisha Gray blazed through almost every opponent in the pool stage, including World no.1 France.

The USA posted a 6-1 record in the pool stage, topping the table with a 19.4 points per game average.

As pool winners, the USA received an automatic bye to the semi-final stage, where they proceeded to dispatch France once more (18-16) before heading into the gold medal game with world no.2 ROC.

Despite the lofty status of their higher-ranked opponents, the USA yet again demonstrated their stifling team defence and shared offence (Plum - 5 points, Gray - 4 points, Dolson - 7 points, Young - 2 points) in beating the ROC 18-15 to win the first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's 3X3 basketball.

After their performance throughout the entire tournament, surely the USA will now soar up FIBA's 3X3 rankings.

3 - Serbia's 'surprise' bronze medal

Serbia were the heavy favourites to win gold in the men's competition, and with good reason. Serbia arrived to Tokyo as the top-ranked men's team in the world, and also boasted the world's top male player in Dusan Bulut.

After seven games of pool play, those predictions seemed well-founded as Serbia maintained a 100 per cent winning record with a 19.7 points per game average to progress to the semi-finals as pool winners.

However, winning the pool doesn't guarantee you Olympic gold, as Bulut and Serbia soon found out. In the semi-finals, Serbia were stunned by a hungry ROC team who employed a physical game plan to limit their opponents to just 10 points on 18 per cent shooting from inside the arc.

ROC convincingly won the game 21-10, and just like that, the gold-medal favourites were resigned to the bronze medal game.

It was a stunning upset, evidenced by the reaction of Bulut and his teammates after beating Belgium to secure Olympic bronze. Smiles were few and far between the Serbian quartet, revealing that while they were 'happy' with the bronze, their real target had been the gold medal.

4 - Belgium's amazing run to the semi-finals

Belgium were another surprise package in men’s 3X3.

The federation is ranked 14th in the world, and they sneaked into the Olympic Games by winning the Universality Olympic Qualifying Tournament, clinching the final Tokyo 2020 qualifying spot.

But the squad of Thibaut Vervoort, Nick Celis, Rafael Bogaerts and Thierry Marien played like experienced old-timers, securing impressive wins over World No.4 Latvia and No.6 ROC to finish second in the pool behind Serbia, securing an automatic bye to the semi-final.

(2021 Getty Images)

Belgium would face Latvia once more in the semi-final. This time the Latvians didn’t underestimate their opponents, holding to just eight points as they breezed through to the gold medal game. Belgium then had the misfortune of facing top-ranked Serbia in the bronze medal game, and the Serbians, perhaps still smarting after their surprising loss to ROC earlier in the day, were clinical in their 21-10 win to collect the bronze.

Despite the loss, the Belgian team received numerous plaudits for their impressive fourth-place finish at the Olympic Games.

5 - Mongolia’s 3X3 team makes Olympic history

In November 2019, the Mongolian squad of Solongo Bayasgalan, Chimeddolgor Enkhtaivan, Tserenlkham Munkhsaikhan and Khulan Onolbaatar made history, becoming the first team to qualify for an Olympic Games from their nation.

Prior to Tokyo 2020, Mongolia's only Olympic representatives (a nation with a large land mass but a population of just three million) had completed only in individual events.

But this team booked their tickets for Tokyo by virtue of their top four FIBA federation ranking (China, ROC and Romania were the other sides who automatically qualified).

Onolbaatar, who became the first female flag-bearer from her nation at the Opening Ceremony, told FIBA3x3 basketball, "I'm happy for sure but the biggest emotion is the pride to be Mongolian. I just can't wrap my head around the idea that I am given this huge opportunity on the biggest stage in sports, at the Olympics. It is every athlete’s dream to represent your country on the biggest stage possible".

Sadly for Mongolia, the team failed to progress from the pool stage after losing all seven of their games; though they did come agonisingly close to beating Italy (losing 15-14) and World No.1 France (a 22-18 defeat).

One last look

France got off to a shaky start in the women's competition; the world's no.1 team lost three of their opening four games to put their chances of progressing to the knockout rounds in serious jeopardy.

However, thanks to some stellar play from Laetitia Guapo and Mamignan Toure, France righted the ship and won their last three group games to advance to the quarter-finals. However, despite beating Japan to move on to the semis, France fell to the USA and subsequently lost to China in the bronze medal game.

(2021 Getty Images)

Hello Paris 2024

3X3 will return to the Olympic (half) court in Paris in 2024, and it's a good bet that Bulut and Serbia will return with a vengeance in their hunt for the gold medal that they missed out on in Tokyo.

In the women's competition, France will certainly be looking to rebound in front of their home crowd after a disappointing fourth-place finish in Tokyo.