The Australian women’s basketball team will begin its hunt for a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics on July 29 at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France with the Opals scheduled to play Nigeria in their opening match.

Australia have won five Olympic medals – three silver and two bronze medals – in women’s basketball to date with all their podium finishes coming in successive editions between Atlanta 1996 and London 2012.

The Opals were within touching distance of a gold medal at three consecutive Olympic Summer Games between Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008 but had to settle for silver eventually after losing all three finals to the USA.

The Australian women’s basketball team, however, failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals in the last two editions. At Tokyo 2020, they were beaten by the USA in the last eight while their Rio 2016 campaign was ended by Serbia in the same stage.

While basketball has featured in the Olympic curriculum since 1936, women’s basketball was introduced at Montreal 1976. The Opals did not qualify for the first two Summer Olympics in 1976 and 1980 but have competed in all other editions barring Barcelona 1992.

Between 1976 and 1992, only six countries participated in the women’s basketball tournaments at the Olympics before the number was expanded to 12, starting from Atlanta 1996.

At Paris 2024, the Opals find themselves in Group B along with hosts and two-time Olympic medallists France, Canada and Nigeria.

Australia women will begin their campaign against Nigeria before facing Canada and France respectively. The top two teams in the group will qualify for the quarter-finals while the third-placed side also has the opportunity to go through to the last eight based on ranking.

The knockout rounds of the tournament will be held at the Bercy Arena in Paris with the final scheduled on August 11.

The Opals qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics after beating Brazil, Germany and Serbia at the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belem in 2024

Paris 2024 Olympics: Women’s basketball teams and groups