Softball at the Olympics

Softball was played as a competition for womenfrom the 1996 Olympics through the 2008 Olympics . Baseball , as a corresponding competition for men, was played from the 1992 Olympics to the 2008 Olympics.

history

Softball was first included in the Olympic program for the 1996 Olympic Games . In the following years, the United States team dominated the tournament and was able to win gold three times before it was surprisingly beaten by Japan at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. On July 11, 2005, however , the IOC decided at the 117th IOC meeting in Singapore to remove softball from the Olympic program at the 2012 Olympic Games . An application in the program committee at the 118th IOC meeting in Turin to resume softball in 2012 failed in 2006 with just 42 to 43 votes. Softball was also an option for the 2016 Olympic Games , together with baseball, but lost to golf and rugby. In the run-up to the decision for the 2020 Olympic sports , the previously separate world associations for baseball and softball merged at the end of 2012 to form the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). That didn't help either: on September 8, 2013, the IOC General Assembly decided against baseball / softball and re-included the sport of wrestling , which the Executive Committee had already canceled , in the Olympic program for 2020 and 2024.

Competitions

Baseball / Softball - Current competitions
competition	12	20th	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20th	Games
	Men
Baseball men	D.					D.		D.	D.		D.					D.	D.	•	•	•	•	•			•	6th
Baseball / Softball - Current competitions
competition	12	20th	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20th	Games
	Women
Softball women																			•	•	•	•			•	6th
Number of competitions																		1	2	2	2	2			2

Medalist

Olympia	gold	silver	bronze
1996 Atlanta	United States	People's Republic of China	Australia
2000 Sydney	United States	Japan	Australia
2004 Athens	United States	Australia	Japan
2008 Beijing	Japan	United States	Australia

Medal table

space	country	gold	silver	bronze	total
1	United States	3	1	-	4th
2	Japan	1	1	1	3
3	Australia	-	1	3	4th
4th	People's Republic of China	-	1	-	1

Participating nations and placements

nation	1996	2000	2004	2008	Participation
Australia	3	3	2	3	4th
Canada	5	8th	5	4th	4th
People's Republic of China	2	4th	4th	5	4th
Chinese Taipei	6th	-	6th	6th	3
Cuba	-	7th	-	-	1
Greece	-	-	7th	-	1
Japan	4th	2	3	1	4th
Italy	-	5	8th	-	2
Netherlands	7th	-	-	8th	2
New Zealand	-	6th	-	-	1
Puerto Rico	8th	-	-	-	1
United States	1	1	1	2	4th
Venezuela	-	-	-	7th	1
Participating Nations	8th	8th	8th	8th

Olympic tournament

A total of 8 teams compete against each other in the Olympic softball tournament. The host nation is seeded, the remaining 7 teams can qualify for the tournament at the softball world championship and other continental eliminations. In addition to all previous medal winners, Canada was also able to qualify for every Olympic final tournament. From Europe, the Netherlands and Italy each qualified twice, Greece was the host in 2004.
The Olympic softball tournament is played in the group stage in a round robin system; the four best-placed teams then play the medals among themselves in the page playoff system .

Web links

• Softball as an Olympic sport at the International Olympic Committee

Individual evidence

1. ↑ SINGAPORE 2005: 2012 Olympic Sport Vote Found on October 3, 2008 (English)
2. ↑ Olympic program for London 2012 confirmed Found on October 3, 2008
3. ↑ Golf and rugby will be Olympic in 2016. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 5, 2013 ; Retrieved October 19, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ One round further. Retrieved June 4, 2013 . 
5. ↑ A shoulder win for the wrestlers. Retrieved January 3, 2014 .