Following the EuroBasket Women 2007, seven teams have already booked their
place in the Olympic basketball tournament in Beijing.
The Russian women's team imitated their male compatriots by taking the
European title in Chieti, Italy, and will compete in the 2008 Games. The team
from Spain, which won the silver -- like the men -- and the bronze-medal-winning
team from Belarus can still earn an Olympic passport if they do well at the
World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, as can Latvia and the Czech Republic, who
finished fourth and fifth respectively in the EuroBasket 2007.
Seven out of 12 qualified
The People's Republic of China, as the host nation, and Australia as the 2006
FIBA World Champion, have qualified directly, while five other countries have
qualified through the continental championships: Mali (Africa), United States of
America (Americas), Republic of Korea (Asia), Russian Federation (Europe) and
New Zealand (Oceania).
World Olympic Qualifying Tournament
The best-placed non-qualified teams for the Olympic Games from the five zones
are entitled to participate in the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which
will be played from 9 to 15 June 2008 in a place to be determined and will
decide the final five berths for Beijing 2008.
It will be a 12-team tournament which will feature two participants from
Africa (Angola and Senegal), three from the Americas (Argentina, Brazil and
Cuba), two from Asia (Japan and Chinese Taipei), four from Europe (Belarus,
Spain, Latvia and Czech Republic) and one from Oceania (Fiji).
