| Date | 26 July – 8 August 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Saitama Super Arena, Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan | |
| Participants | 142 from 12 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin pools advance teams to classification matches. | |
All the games took place at Saitama Super Arena. The United States women had been the dominant team in international basketball for decades and came into Tokyo having won the previous six Olympic titles. The USA team was older now, however, and pre-Olympic games saw them lose to a college all-star team and to Australia in a friendly, and their dominance seemed at risk.
It was not to be. The USA won Group B by winning all three games to advance to the knockout round. The other groups were won by China and Spain while Australia finished only third in Group C, but still advanced.
Australia met the United States in the first round and was beaten soundly, 79-55, with the pre-Olympic match only a memory. Serbia, Japan, and France also made it to the semi-finals. The USA handled Serbia comfortably, winning by 20 points, while Japan defeated France easily to make it to the finals. In the final, Japan was no match for the USA team, which won its seventh consecutive gold medal, 90-75, but it was Japan’s first-ever basketball medal, either gender. France defeated Serbia for the bronze medal, reversing the result of the recent EuroBasket final.
The United States was led by its long-time guard duo of Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, who won their fifth consecutive gold medals, bettering the record of four that they shared with Lisa Leslie and Teresa Edwards. They also equalled Edwards’ Olympic basketball record by winning their fifth medals.
| Date | 26 July – 2 August 2021 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Date | 26 July – 1 August 2021 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | ESP | 3 | 0 | 6 | 234-205 | ||
| 2 | Serbia | SRB | 2 | 1 | 4 | 207-214 | ||
| 3 | Canada | CAN | 1 | 2 | 2 | 208-201 | ||
| 4 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 0 | 3 | 0 | 183-212 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 26 Jul 10:00 | Spain 1 | ESP | 73 – 69 | Republic of Korea 2 | KOR | |
| Match #2 | 26 Jul 17:20 | Serbia 3 | SRB | 72 – 68 | Canada 4 | CAN | |
| Match #3 | 29 Jul 10:00 | Canada 5 | CAN | 74 – 53 | Republic of Korea 6 | KOR | |
| Match #4 | 29 Jul 17:20 | Spain 7 | ESP | 85 – 70 | Serbia 8 | SRB | |
| Match #5 | 01 Aug 10:00 | Spain 9 | ESP | 76 – 66 | Canada 10 | CAN | |
| Match #6 | 01 Aug 21:00 | Serbia 11 | SRB | 65 – 61 | Republic of Korea 12 | KOR |
| Date | 27 July – 2 August 2021 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | USA | 3 | 0 | 6 | 260-223 | ||
| 2 | Japan | JPN | 2 | 1 | 4 | 245-239 | ||
| 3 | France | FRA | 1 | 2 | 2 | 239-229 | ||
| 4 | Nigeria | NGR | 0 | 3 | 0 | 217-270 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 27 Jul 10:00 | Japan 13 | JPN | 74 – 70 | France 14 | FRA | |
| Match #2 | 27 Jul 13:40 | United States 15 | USA | 81 – 72 | Nigeria 16 | NGR | |
| Match #3 | 30 Jul 13:40 | United States 17 | USA | 86 – 69 | Japan 18 | JPN | |
| Match #4 | 30 Jul 17:20 | France 19 | FRA | 87 – 62 | Nigeria 20 | NGR | |
| Match #5 | 02 Aug 10:00 | Japan 21 | JPN | 102 – 83 | Nigeria 22 | NGR | |
| Match #6 | 02 Aug 13:40 | United States 23 | USA | 93 – 82 | France 24 | FRA |
| Date | 27 July – 2 August 2021 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pools. |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Losses | Points | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | People's Republic of China | CHN | 3 | 0 | 6 | 247-191 | ||
| 2 | Belgium | BEL | 2 | 1 | 4 | 234-196 | ||
| 3 | Australia | AUS | 1 | 2 | 2 | 240-230 | ||
| 4 | Puerto Rico | PUR | 0 | 3 | 0 | 176-280 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 27 Jul 17:20 | Belgium 25 | BEL | 85 – 70 | Australia 26 | AUS | |
| Match #2 | 27 Jul 21:00 | People's Republic of China 27 | CHN | 97 – 55 | Puerto Rico 28 | PUR | |
| Match #3 | 30 Jul 10:00 | Belgium 29 | BEL | 87 – 52 | Puerto Rico 30 | PUR | |
| Match #4 | 30 Jul 21:00 | People's Republic of China 31 | CHN | 76 – 74 | Australia 32 | AUS | |
| Match #5 | 02 Aug 17:20 | People's Republic of China 33 | CHN | 74 – 62 | Belgium 34 | BEL | |
| Match #6 | 02 Aug 21:00 | Australia 35 | AUS | 96 – 69 | Puerto Rico 36 | PUR |
| Date | 4 August 2021 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner of each match advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 04 Aug 10:00 | Serbia 37 | SRB | 77 – 70 | People's Republic of China 38 | CHN | |
| Match #2 | 04 Aug 13:40 | United States | USA | 79 – 55 | Australia 39 | AUS | |
| Match #3 | 04 Aug 17:20 | Japan 40 | JPN | 86 – 85 | Belgium 41 | BEL | |
| Match #4 | 04 Aug 21:00 | France 42 | FRA | 67 – 64 | Spain 43 | ESP |
| Date | 6 August 2021 — 13:40 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winner of each match advanced to the final round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Aug 13:40 | United States 44 | USA | 79 – 59 | Serbia 45 | SRB | |
| Match #2 | 06 Aug 20:00 | Japan 46 | JPN | 87 – 71 | France 47 | FRA |
| Date | 7 – 8 August 2021 |
|---|---|
| Format | Medal round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 08 Aug 11:30 | United States 48 | USA | 90 – 75 | Japan 49 | JPN | |
| Match 3/4 | 07 Aug 16:00 | France 50 | FRA | 91 – 76 | Serbia 51 | SRB |