Softball at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Softball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place over a ten-day period starting August 12 and culminating in the medal finals on August 21. All games were played at the Fengtai Softball Field. Olympic softball is a women only competition, with men competing in the similar sport of baseball.

Softball
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Pictogram used to identify softball at the 2008 Games
VenueFengtai Softball Field
DatesAugust 12–21
Teams8
Medalists
 Japan
 United States
 Australia
Competing teams

This is the most recently contested softball tournament in Olympic history, as the International Olympic Committee voted to remove baseball from the program in the 2012 Olympics.[1] Along with baseball, softball was rejected for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympics at the IOC's meeting in October 2009.[2] However, following a 2016 IOC vote, softball will again be conducted for the 2020 Games.[3]

Medalists

Gold Silver Bronze
 Japan (JPN)

Naho Emoto
Motoko Fujimoto
Megu Hirose
Emi Inui
Sachiko Ito
Ayumi Karino
Satoko Mabuchi
Yukiyo Mine
Masumi Mishina
Rei Nishiyama
Hiroko Sakai
Rie Sato
Mika Someya
Yukiko Ueno
Eri Yamada

 United States (USA)

Monica Abbott
Stacey Nuveman
Crystl Bustos
Jennie Finch
Laura Berg
Lauren Lappin
Lovieanne Jung
Cat Osterman
Tairia Flowers
Andrea Duran
Jessica Mendoza
Victoria Galindo
Kelly Kretschman
Caitlin Lowe
Natasha Watley

 Australia (AUS)

Jodie Bowering
Kylie Cronk
Kelly Hardie
Tanya Harding
Sandy Lewis
Simmone Morrow
Tracey Mosley
Stacey Porter
Melanie Roche
Justine Smethurst
Danielle Stewart
Natalie Titcume
Natalie Ward
Belinda Wright
Kerry Wyborn

Participants

Competition format

Eight teams compete in the Olympic softball tournament, and the competition consists of two rounds. The preliminary round follows a round robin format, where each of the teams plays all the other teams once. Following this, the top four teams advance to a page playoff system round consisting of two semifinal games, and finally the bronze and gold medal games.

Qualification

The eight teams in the Olympic softball tournament will qualify through a series of tournaments. China, as the host nation, is guaranteed one automatic entry. The top four finalists at the 2006 Softball World Championships will be qualified for the Olympic tournament. Finally, there will be continental qualifying tournaments for Europe/Africa, Pan-America, and Asia/Oceania, with the winners of each tournament earning a spot in the Olympic tournament.

Qualification schedule

Date Event Location Qualifier
Host Nation  China
Aug. 20–29, 2006 2006 ISF World Championship Beijing  United States
 Japan
 Australia
 Canada
June 9–16, 2007 Europe & Africa Olympic Qualifying Tournament Trieste  Netherlands
Feb. 1–5, 2007 Asian & Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament Tainan City  Chinese Taipei1
Aug. 19–24, 2007 Pan-American Olympic Qualifying Tournament Valencia  Venezuela

^Note 1 : Chinese Taipei is the official IOC designation for the state officially referred to as the Republic of China, more commonly known as Taiwan. (See also political status of Taiwan for details.)

Group stage

Preliminary round

Qualified for the semifinals
Eliminated

The top four teams will advance to the semifinal round.

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)

Team W L RS RA WIN% GB Tiebreaker
 United States 705311.000--
 Japan 612313.8571-
 Australia 523011.7142-
 Canada 341723.4294-
 Chinese Taipei 251023.28652-0 vs. CHN/VEN
 China 251921.28651-1 vs. TPE/VEN
 Venezuela 251535.28650-2 vs. CHN/TPE
 Netherlands 16848.1436-

Tiebreaking procedures follow the International Softball Federation's standard procedure for the resolution of ties.[4]

August 12
August 13
August 14
August 15
August 16
August 17
August 18

Medal round

The loser of 1&2 seed game will play the winner of the 3&4 seed game in the bronze medal match. The loser of the bronze medal match wins the bronze medal while the winner goes on to play the winner of the 1&2 seed game for the gold medal in the gold medal match.

  Semifinals Bronze medal game Gold medal game
                           
1  United States 4  
2  Japan 1         1  United States 1
      3  Australia 3   2  Japan 3
  2  Japan 4  
3  Australia 5
4  Canada 3  

Semi finals

Bronze medal match

Winner advances to gold medal match. Loser wins bronze medal.

Team123456789101112RHE
 Australia100000100010372
 Japan0002000000114111
WP: Yukiko Ueno(4-1)   LP: Tanya Harding(3-2)
Home runs:
AUS: Kerry Wyborn,
JPN: Megu Hirose

Gold medal match

Team1234567RHE
 Japan0011001340
 United States0001000152
WP: Yukiko Ueno(5-1)   LP: Cat Osterman(3-1)
Home runs:
JPN: Eri Yamada (2)
USA: Crystl Bustos (6)

References

  1. Michaelis, Vicki (2005-07-08). "Baseball, softball bumped from Olympics". USA Today. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
  2. "Olympic Leaders Approve Golf and Rugby for 2016 Summer Games". Fox News. Associated Press. August 13, 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
  3. Victor Mather (August 3, 2016). "Baseball and Softball Returning to Olympics in 2020". New York Times.
  4. Archived December 11, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
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