when did women's basketball become an olympic sport
Women's basketball The popularity of women's basketball grew steadily around the world for decades. By the 1970s the sport had attracted the notice the International Olympic Committee, which added women's basketball as an official sport of the Olympic Games in 1976, the men debuted in 1936. Throughout the 1970s, funding for (and interest in) women's basketball began to dramatically increase as schools receiving federal funding began to come into compliance with new laws mandating a lack of discrimination based on sex. The sport was also gaining attention at the collegiate level, under the auspices of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). A major development in women's basketball occurred in 1982 when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began to sponsor the sport.[citation needed]. After several failed attempts at women's professional leagues in the U.S., the NBA founded the WNBA in 1996.
List of Olympic medalists in volleyball Following the United States-led boycott of the Moscow Olympics,[3] the Soviet Union and some of its allies responded by boycotting the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, citing security concerns.[4] The United States won its first medals in volleyball at the Los Angeles Games: a gold in the men's competition, and a silver in the women's.[5][6] The People's Republic of China won the gold medal in the women's competition in Los Angeles, their first time participating in an Olympic volleyball competition.[7] The United States successfully defended their men's gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and Peru won their only medal in volleyball, a silver in the women's competition. The Soviet Union won a silver medal in the men's competition and a gold in the women's at what would be their final Olympics.[8] Following the 1990â€“91 breakup of the Soviet Union, 12 of the 15 newly independent countries competed together as the Unified Team in Barcelona.[9] In the women's competition, the Unified Team won the silver medal, and Cuba won their first of three consecutive gold medals. In the men's competition, Brazil won its first gold medal, and the Netherlands its first overall medal in the sport.