“He is the German basketball legend. Our eyes sparkled. We took a photo with him,” said Brunckhorst after the thriller in the final. To celebrate the day, the gold winners jumped left and right with the Dutch 3×3 Olympic champions – just like the fans from the neighboring country had done at the European Football Championship in Germany.
First basketball medal at the Olympics
Completely unexpectedly, the quartet won gold on their Olympic debut. When thousands of spectators and Nowitzki had disappeared from the memorable competition venue around midnight, the German team was still standing in the heart of Paris, working on how to spend the rest of the evening after their sensational triumph.
Organizing interviews, a press conference and the upcoming reception in the German House at short notice: After winning the first ever Olympic medal, the German Basketball Association (DBB) suddenly had a lot to organize. Brunckhorst, Greinacher, Mevius and Reichert wore the gold medals around their necks in disbelief.
«Germany has a gold medal»
“I haven’t realized it yet. It’ll take a few more weeks. Germany has a gold medal in the 3×3 – that’s unbelievable,” said Greinacher, who won both the semi-final against Canada (16:15) and the final against Spain (17:16) with her last-minute throws. The team led by Brunckhorst and Greinacher celebrated qualifying in May like a medal – and now, two and a half months later, they are actually Olympic champions.
Superstar Nowitzki, who himself never won a medal at the Olympics, was right by the side of the quartet. This also delighted 3×3 national coach Samir Suliman, who raved about the former star player of the Dallas Mavericks after the evening. “Dirk is unbelievable for us, and also for the players. It’s so out of reach. He’s there and he hugged them all. He’s the greatest basketball player of all, all, all, all time in Germany. When he’s there live when you become an Olympic champion as a player. What could be greater?” said Suliman.
