Their women’s team had already beaten Jamaica in overtime and Tonga in the quarter-finals when they faced New Zealand, the Birmingham 2022 silver medallists, in the semi-final. Uganda won 21-9.

Australia stopped them in the final, winning 21-11, but silver gave Uganda a medal at their first attempt and provided the clearest example of what had changed in 3x3 Basketball since the discipline made its Games debut four years earlier.

The established powers were still difficult to dislodge, but what had changed, was the competition beneath them.

Birmingham 2022 produced a remarkably concentrated medal table. England, Australia and Canada shared all 12 medals available across men’s and women’s 3x3 Basketball and 3x3 Wheelchair Basketball, taking four each.

Glasgow widened the field. The 3x3 Basketball competition increased from eight teams per gender to 12, while the wheelchair tournaments featured eight teams each.

That brought a large group of nations into the 3x3 format for the first time. Fiji, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Singapore made their debuts in both the men’s and women’s competitions. Guyana, Malaysia and Nigeria entered the men’s draw for the first time, while Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Uganda were newcomers in the women’s competition.

Several of those new teams were immediately competitive.

Uganda’s opening 18-17 overtime victory against Jamaica offered the first indication that their debut would be more than an exercise in gaining experience. They went on to beat Tonga 21-12 in the quarter-final before overwhelming New Zealand in the last four.

“I spent an hour crying just because we'd made it to the final, but after that it was time to regroup,” Uganda player Melissa Akullu said after the silver medal was secured.

“I'm just so proud of what we accomplished. Hopefully we'll be back competing for gold at the next Commonwealth Games.”

Scotland also moved from the fringes of the podium onto it. Their men had finished fourth at Birmingham, but beat New Zealand 18-16 in Glasgow to secure the country’s first Commonwealth Games 3x3 Basketball medal.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” Scotland player Kyle Jimenez said afterwards. “The last two [tournaments] have been quite a painful experience. I said at the start of this tournament that we’re going to win a medal and none of us ever doubted it.”

Scotland’s women then did the same in 3x3 Wheelchair Basketball.

After finishing fourth at Birmingham, they beat 2022 silver medallists Australia 15-12 in the Glasgow semi-final before losing 18-10 to England in the gold-medal match. The result gave Scotland its first Commonwealth Games wheelchair basketball medal and completed a breakthrough Games for the hosts across both forms of 3x3.

The expansion of the wheelchair competition was also visible further down the field.

Wales entered both tournaments for the first time and won in each. Their women beat fellow debutants India 16-1, while the men edged Malaysia 14-13. South Africa added another first, beating Wales 16-12 to record the country’s first Commonwealth Games victory in 3x3 Wheelchair Basketball.

These were not podium results, but they showed that nations with no previous Commonwealth record in the discipline were doing more than filling an expanded draw.

Yet for all the movement underneath them, the teams at the very top remained familiar.

England defended the men’s 3x3 Basketball title with a thrilling 19-17 victory over Australia, while Australia beat Uganda to take the women’s gold.

In the wheelchair competition, Australia retained the men’s title and England moved from bronze at Birmingham to gold in the women’s event. England and Australia therefore won all four Glasgow titles between them.

However, Uganda reached a final at their first attempt, Scotland converted fourth-place finishes into medals in both forms of the game, and Wales and South Africa recorded breakthrough wheelchair victories.

Two editions into 3x3’s Commonwealth Games history, the ceiling has so far remained stubbornly high. But the number of teams capable of pushing towards it is growing.