Softball is a sport that was formerly contested at the Summer Olympic Games. On December 8, 1989, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declined to stage a softball tournament as a demonstration sport in the 1992 Summer Olympics.[1] At the 97th IOC session in 1991, the sport was granted official status as a medal sport for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.[2] Softball was contested at each subsequent Games through 2008, after which the IOC removed it from the Olympic program.
Entering the first Olympic softball tournament in 1996, the United States were the favorites, having won every international competition in which they participated for the prior ten years.[3] The United States team lived up to expectations by winning the gold medal. The Americans lost one game in the tournament, outscoring their opponents by a combined 41 runs to 8.[4] The Chinese team won their only Olympic medal in softball, a silver, in 1996.[5] In the 2000 tournament, the United States won their second consecutive gold medal,[6] although they lost three games in the preliminary round at the Sydney Games.[7] At the 2004 Summer Olympics, the United States earned their third consecutive gold medal, winning all nine games and only allowing one run the entire tournament.[8]
In 2004, the IOC investigated the addition of sports to the Olympic schedule including golf, rugby sevens, squash, roller sports, and karate.[9] The IOC voted on July 8, 2005, to remove softball and baseball from the 2012 Summer Olympics roster, the first sports removed from the Olympics since polo in 1936.[10] Appeals to reinstate both sports for 2012 were rejected.[11] Softball was still played at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, however, and the Japanese team claimed their first gold and third overall medal in Olympic softball.[12] The United States won silver, and the Australian team bronze, to become the only countries to win a medal in all four Olympic softball tournaments. The international governing bodies of softball, baseball, rugby sevens, golf, karate, roller sports, and squash petitioned the IOC in 2009 to fill two sport slots at the 2016 Olympics.[13] IOC President Jacques Rogge said they were "looking for an added value – wide appeal, especially for young people".[13] Ultimately the IOC voted to fill the two available slots for 2016 with rugby and golf.[14] Softball and baseball were reinstated together on a one-time basis at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[15]
Five nations have won medals in softball at the Olympics; the United States, China, Australia, Japan, and Canada.[5] With three gold medals and two silver, the United States were the most successful team.[5] American center fielder Laura Berg was a part of four of those five teams.[5][16] Three Australian players also won four medals: one silver and three bronze. Ten athletes won three medals, while thirty more won two medals.[5]
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Olympian Michele Smith - Why Softball Was Removed From The Olympics.
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Transcription
michele smith a two-time olympic gold medalist and ESPN commentator offers her theory on why softball was cut from the olympics I think it's probably a combination of um... a lot of different things I think that the IOC was looking for the opportunity to get other sports into the olympics i.e. golf and rugby two sports that are popular around the world especially rugby i don't know that when you start to look at the mandates of the i_o_c_ that those two sports really fulfill those mandates uh... softball does in my opinion quite a bit more so i think that the IOC really came down to t_v_ and contracts and money and uh... um... with if you look at sports in general and i_o_c_ talks about the mandate to really market to young kids and trying to get more kids involved in sport and movement softball would be one of those sport's there aren't as many kids playing golf as there are playing especially young girls playing golf as there are young girls playing softball around the world uh... or rugby for that matter in some areas rugby obviously is very popular around the world but still a lot of the countries where rugby is popular for religious reasons or cultural reasons a lot of girls aren't playing the men are but the girls are not come so there's a lot of different theories as you mentioned as to why softball kinda got lumped in and pulled out with baseball I think with baseball there were a lot of issues there was a the doping issue um... there was the fact that the guys the best guys in the game because they're under contract with major league baseball they weren't able to have time off to play in the olympics so there's a lot of different things and i think baseball's done a really good job of kind of getting themselves into the position to be able to uh... to fit into the those olympic ideals which is what the IOC had wanted and i'm hoping there's a possibility that that both the sports at some point in the future will get back in but yeah i think i do think that it comes down to a lot of different things the u_s_ dominance is part of it but you know i do think if you look at women's basketball i mean the women's team u_s_a_ has dominated in basketball but there's no you know we haven't really talked of basketball being pulled out so i think that it's a combination of a lot of different things and an unfortunate you know vote in two thousand and five in singapore at that IOC session that ended up pulling softball out along with baseball this excerpt is brought to you by the massachusetts school of law
Medal winners
Athlete medal leaders
Athletes who won at least two gold medals or three total medals are listed below.[5]
| Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Total | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laura Berg |  United States (USA)
|
1996–2008 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Melanie Roche |  Australia (AUS)
|
1996–2008 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Natalie Ward | Australia (AUS)
|
1996–2008 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Tanya Harding | Australia (AUS)
|
1996–2008 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Leah O'Brien | United States (USA)
|
1996–2004 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Lisa Fernandez | United States (USA)
|
1996–2004 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Lori Harrigan | United States (USA)
|
1996–2004 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Crystl Bustos | United States (USA)
|
2000–2008 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Stacey Nuveman | United States (USA)
|
2000–2008 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Yukiko Ueno |  Japan (JPN)
|
2004–2020 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Eri Yamada | Japan (JPN)
|
2004–2020 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Cat Osterman | United States (USA)
|
2004–2020 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Sandra Allen | Australia (AUS)
|
2000–2008 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Brooke Wilkins | Australia (AUS)
|
1996–2004 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Natalie Titcume | Australia (AUS)
|
2000–2008 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Simmone Morrow | Australia (AUS)
|
2000–2008 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Peta Edebone | Australia (AUS)
|
1996–2004 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Christa Lee Williams | United States (USA)
|
1996–2000 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sheila Cornell | United States (USA)
|
1996–2000 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Michele Smith | United States (USA)
|
1996–2000 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Dot Richardson | United States (USA)
|
1996–2000 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Yukiyo Mine | Japan (JPN)
|
2008–2020 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
See also
References
- ^ UPI (December 9, 1989). "Golf, softball rejected for Barcelona Olympics". Lodi News-Sentinel. Lodi, CA. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
- ^ "International Softball Federation Timeline". International Softball Federation. Archived from the original on January 10, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
- ^ Capellman, Chad (March 15, 1996). "Richardson Travels Hard Road to Softball". The Washington Post. Washington, DC: Washington Post Company. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Softball at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Women's Softball Summary". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Softball". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 26, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Softball at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games: Women's Softball Summary". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Softball at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games:Women's Softball Round-Robin". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Softball at the 2004 Athina Summer Games: Women's Softball Summary". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ Starmer-Smith, Charles (September 26, 2004). "Rugby makes Olympic list". The Daily Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on January 30, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
- ^ "They'rrre out! Olympics drop baseball, softball". NBC Sports. Associated Press. July 9, 2005. Archived from the original on May 3, 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
Rogge has basically conspired against the sports to get them removed
- ^ "Olympic sports fail in appeal bid". BBC.co.uk. BBC. February 9, 2006. Archived from the original on June 22, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Softball at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games: Women's Softball Summary". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ a b "Seven sports aim for Olympic spot". BBC.co.uk. BBC. June 15, 2009. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
- ^ "Golf & rugby voted into Olympics". BBC.co.uk. BBC. October 9, 2009. Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
- ^ "You're in! Baseball/softball, 4 other sports make Tokyo cut". USA Today. Associated Press. August 3, 2016.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Laura Berg Biography and Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 16, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "United States Softball at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "China Softball at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Australia Softball at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "United States Softball at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Japan Softball at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 26, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Australia Softball at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 26, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "United States Softball at the 2004 Athina Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Australia Softball at the 2004 Athina Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Japan Softball at the 2004 Athina Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Japan Softball at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 14, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "United States Softball at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Australia Softball at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
- ^ a b c "Tokyo 2020 Baseball/Softball Results". Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
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This page was last edited on 19 October 2023, at 18:35