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.
This is the last time Softball was contested as a core sport at the Olympics, as the International Olympic Committee voted to remove baseball from the program in the 2012 Olympics. Along with baseball, softball was rejected for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympics at the IOC's meeting in October 2009. However, softball was contested at the 2020 Games and will be included at the 2028 games as an additional sport.
Medalists GoldSilverBronzeNaho 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 YamadaMonica 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 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 qualify through a series of tournaments. China, as the host nation, was guaranteed one automatic entry. The top four finalists at the 2006 Softball World Championships qualify for the Olympic tournament. Finally, there were 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 Aug. 20–29, 2006 2006 ISF World Championship Beijing June 9–16, 2007 Europe & Africa Olympic Qualifying Tournament Trieste Feb. 1–5, 2007 Asian & Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament Tainan City Aug. 19–24, 2007 Pan-American Olympic Qualifying Tournament Valencia
: 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 advance to the semifinal round.
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8) TeamWLRSRAWIN%GBTiebreaker705311.000--612313.8571-523011.7142-341723.4294-251023.2865 2-0 vs. CHN/VEN251921.2865 1-1 vs. TPE/VEN251535.2865 0-2 vs. CHN/TPE16848.1436-
Tiebreaking procedures follow the International Softball Federation's standard procedure for the resolution of ties.
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.
Semi finals
Bronze medal match Winner advances to gold medal match. Loser wins bronze medal.
Gold medal match
References
External links IOC Softball International Softball Federation ISF Olympic Softball Softball – Official Results Book