Strahinja Stojačić went into this year’s FIBA 3×3 World Cup in Poland ranked as the best 3×3 basketball player on the planet, leading the top-seeded team in the draw.
He left Warsaw with a bronze medal. Again.
It was the latest in a frustrating run of near-misses for Stojačić and Serbia. At the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Serbia arrived as the top seed, but were knocked out by hosts France. A year later at the World Cup in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, they lost 21-11 to Switzerland in the semi-finals before recovering to beat Germany for bronze. Then, in June this year, Serbia came within a point of the final, falling 20-19 to eventual champions Latvia despite 12 points from Stojačić, before edging France by the same score to take third.
Speaking exclusively to Olympics.com in Warsaw before that semi-final, the 34-year-old was still turning over the Swiss defeat.
“It’s difficult when you have two successes in a row, and after not good results at the Olympics you go to the World Cup to try again to win the gold medal – and then you have a terrible game in the semis,” he said. “But this one is a new story. Again we need to play well, on another level, and to try to be first.”
Warsaw ended the same way, if by a far finer margin.
As Stojačić and Serbia go again at the FIBA 3×3 Europe Cup in Antwerp this week – a title they’ve won five times – the bigger target is already in view: LA28.
The bitter sting of Paris 2024
Serbia arrived at Paris 2024 as the highest-ranked team in the field and with gold firmly in their sights. Instead, their campaign ended in the play-in round at Place de la Concorde, where hosts France beat them 22-19 on 4 August. Stojačić led Serbia with eight points as they finished fifth.
“It was very hard for us,” he said. “We went there, to be honest, to win the gold, and we lost against France. They played amazing that game and they were better than us in that moment. It was very difficult. But of course, it’s like one more step in our careers, to learn something, and to try to stay healthy.”
That final point matters when the conversation turns to LA28. Before Stojačić talks about form, opponents or another shot at Olympic gold, he talks about staying healthy enough to get there.
“I hope we will all have luck with injuries and we stay healthy all the time until Los Angeles,” he said. “We of course prepare for that, and try to put that like the goal of our careers in 3×3.”
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/strahinja-stojacic-3×3-europe-cup-2026-interview
