For 36 years after basketball entered the Olympic Games as a full medal sport for men， the question was not who would win， but who would finish second. The United States owned the game， and not just because it was invented① there.
The Soviet Union took home the gold when they toppled② the US team in a controversial③ 1972 game. After another semi-final victory for the Soviets in 1988， the sport opened to professionals. Once again， the question became who would finish second. In Barcelona in 1992， with a squad featuring some of the world’s best-known athletes—Michael Jordan， Magic Johnson and Larry Bird—the gold-medal winning US “Dream Team” gave an exhibition of basketball at its best.
Women’s basketball hasn’t been quite such a one-sided affair④. Since it joined the Olympic program in 1976， the gold medals have been divided between the US， the Soviet Union and， after the break-up of the Soviet Union， the Commonwealth of Independent States.
① inventv. 发明，创造
② topplev. 使倒塌，推翻，颠覆
③ controversialadj. 有争议的
④ affairn. 事情，事，事件
篮球概述
在男子篮球成为正式的奥运会比赛项目之后的36年中，人们关注的焦点并不是谁会赢得冠军，而是亚军的归属。美国是这项运动的主宰，这并不仅仅是因为篮球起源于美国。
苏联曾在1972的一场有争议的比赛中击败了美国，获得了奥运金牌。在1988年苏联再次击败美国赢得奥运会篮球半决赛的胜利后，奥运会篮球赛向职业选手敞开了大门，于是人们关注的焦点又成了谁将获得亚军。在1992年的巴塞罗那奥运会上，拥有迈克尔·乔丹、魔术师约翰逊、拉里·伯德等著名职业选手的美国“梦之队”上演了一场精彩绝伦的表演赛。
而女子篮球的决赛就不是一边倒了。自从1976成为奥运会正式比赛项目之后，冠军起初是由美国和苏联分享，在苏联解体后则有美国和独联体来争夺。