Flashback: What happened at the last Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments?

MIES (Switzerland) - As we look forward to next month's FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2024, we have hit the rewind button to take a look at what happened four years ago on the Road to Tokyo.

As is this case this time around, there were 16 teams involved in four groups, although the Tournaments were held across three sites and all in Europe. Belgrade, Serbia was the location for two of the groups, with the others taking place in Bourges, France and in Ostend, Belgium.

 

 

There were 10 tickets to Tokyo 2020 on the line - with USA already qualified as the reigning FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup champions and Japan as the Olympic hosts.  Here's how it went down:

Ostend, Belgium - History for the Cats

Qualified: Belgium, Canada, Japan 
Missed Out: Sweden

TISSOT All-Star Five: Natalie Achonwa (Canada), Emma Meesseman (Belgium), Saki Hayashi (Japan), Julie Allemand (Belgium), Ramu Tokashiki (Japan).

MVP: Emma Meesseman (Belgium)

It was host nation Belgium that wrote the headlines in Ostend as they punched a ticket to the Olympics for the first time. To do so in front of their own fans and a big crowd also made it extra special. Olympic hosts Japan gave a glimpse of the three-point power they would use to eventually take silver at the Games after dropping 17 shots from downtown against the Cats. Meanwhile Canada were the only unbeaten team, with Sweden sinking and missing out.

Bourges, France - Puerto Rico steal the show

Qualified: Australia, France, Puerto Rico
Missed Out: Brazil

TISSOT All-Star Five: Bria Hartley (France), Liz Cambage (Australia), Sandrine Gruda (France), Bec Allen (Australia), Jazmon Gwathmey (Puerto Rico).

MVP: Sandrine Gruda (France)

Boasting superstar names like Liz Cambage and Sandrine Gruda, the tournament in Bourges was firmly under the spotlight, with the Opals center helping to propel her country to Tokyo, while Gruda had the home fans off their seats in appreciation of her work as MVP for France. But step aside because the biggest story was Puerto Rico causing a sensation by qualifying for the very first time after only just edging out fellow Americas rivals, Brazil.

Belgrade, Serbia (Group A) - Nigeria end a long, long wait

Qualified: Nigeria, Serbia, USA Missed Out: Mozambique

TISSOT All-Star Five: Ana Dabovic (Serbia), Nneka Ogwumike (USA), Ezinne Kalu (Nigeria), A'ja Wilson (USA), Leia Dongue (Mozambique)

MVP: Nneka Ogwumike (USA)

USA took all the attention as you'd expect with legends like Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi - they also had eventual Tokyo standout A'ja Wilson on board. Hosts Serbia also lived up to the hype by grabbing their spot at the 'Big Show' in the Japanese capital, but it was Nigeria that put their name up in lights. They beat Mozambique in what was always likely to be an African winner-takes-all matchup against Mozambique - with Ezinne Kalu very impressive throughout. That meant their first participation since their 2004 debut. 

Belgrade, Serbia (Group B) - Heartbreak for Brits as Korea get it done

Qualified: China, Korea, Spain
Missed Out: Great Britain

TISSOT All-Star Five: Alba Torrens (Spain), Meng Li (China), Hyejin Park (Korea), Temi Fagbenle (Great Britain), Xu Han (China).

MVP: Meng Li (China)

With Spain and China big favorites to advance and eventually living up to that top billing - with Meng Li scooping MVP honors for the latter, it was always going to boil down to who came out on top between Korea and Great Britain for the last ticket. It was the former that got the job done in what was the vital result of this group, beating the Brits by 82-79 in an absolute thriller. Korea showed they could get it done, while Great Britain departed with a broken heart. 

Four years later and now we are all ready with baited breath to see what will go down at the 2024 editions!

FIBA