in 1935, the national association of basketball coaches (created by naismith's pupil phog allen) collected money so that the 74-year old naismith could witness the introduction of basketball into the official olympic sports program of the 1936 summer olympic games. there, naismith handed out the medals to three north american teams; united states, for the gold medal, canada, for the silver medal, and mexico, for their bronze medal win. during the olympics, he was named the honorary president of the international basketball federation. when naismith returned he commented that seeing the game played by many nations was the greatest compensation he could have received for his invention. in 1937, naismith played a role in the formation of the national association of intercollegiate basketball, which later became the national association of intercollegiate athletics (naia).