It is significant to note that the Philippine Basketball team made a fifth-place finish in the 1936 Summer Olympics, the best performance by a team outside the Americas, Europe and Oceania. the The Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) which was also formed in 1936) sent a team nicknamed "the Islanders" that participated in the first Olympic basketball tournament . With the tournament under a single-elimination tournament from the third game onwards, the Philippines won their first three games only to face the United States in their fourth game. The USA doubled the Philippines' score as they advanced to the next round. The Philippines wound up fifth place in the best finish by an Asian team in Olympic basketball history. Philippines defeated Uruguay for fifth place with the points 33-23. The Philippines finished with a win-loss record of 4-1 and placed 5th overall. The country has participated in seven Olympic Basketball Tournaments.
The philippines won a bronze medal that year for athletics by Miguel White for Men's 400m Hurdles
| Men's medals: | |||||
 Gold medalists |  United States | ||||
 Silver medalists |  Canada | ||||
 Bronze medalists |  Mexico | ||||
An article narrated the story of the Philippines | ||||||||
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| Philippine National Basketball Team In The 1936 Olympics The Philippines participated in the first basketball tournament in the history of the Olympic games during the 1936 Berlin edition where basketball was played outdoors on lawn tennis courts ( which was terribly hampered by a bad rainy weather) and there were still no seats for spectators. Dr. James Naismith, acknowledged as the inventor of the beautiful game of basketball, was present at the Berlin Olympic basketball competitions and handed out the medals to the winning basketball teams. The 1936 Philippine Olympic basketball team, then widely known as the Islanders, was coached by Dionisio Calvo and represented by 6'1" Charles Borck, Jacinto "Jumping Jack" Ciria Cruz, Franco Marquicias, Primitivo Martinez, Jesus Marzan, Amador Obordo, Cebu basketball legend Bibiano Ouano, Ambrosio Padilla (team captain who later became a Senator), and Fortunato Yambao. John Worell was also listed but was unable to play a single basketball match. The Philippine basketball team draw a bye on the first round of the 1936 Olympic basketball competitions so they got right into the second round. Winners of the first round also advanced to the second round while losers play in the first consolation round. Winners in the first consolation round would go on to the second round while losers get eliminated. In the second round, the Philippines defeated first round winner Mexico, 32-30 to advance to the third round while relegating Mexico to the second consolation round. In the third round, The Philippine basketball stars outplayed Estonia, 39-22 advancing to the fourth round and eliminating Estonia. The United States and Peru drew byes in the third round. The Philippine basketball team faced a tough task in the fourth round of the 1936 Olympic basketball competitions as they had to beat the Americans to advance to the next round. The Filipinos however were clobbered, 56-23, thanks to the dominance of 6-foot-8 behemoth Joe Fortenberry. With the loss, the Philippines dropped out of medal contention in the 1936 Olympic basketball event. The United States went on to win the gold medal. Canada got the silver and Mexico, the basketball team that previously lost to the Philippines in the earlier stages won the bronze. In the preliminary matches of the classification stage for 5th to 8th places, The Philippines and Uruguay emerged victorious. Philippines defeated Italy, 32-14 while Uruguay defeated Peru by forfeiture. In the match for 5th place, Philippines defeated Uruguay, 33-23 and claimed the highest finish by any Asian basketball team in the Olympics to date. | ||||||||
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Charles Borck is my mom's uncle, very sad i did not see him alive.
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