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Softball In the Olympics

The Olympics first included women’s Softball in the 1996 Games, in Atlanta Georgia. Eight countries participated: the United States, China, Australia, Japan, Canada, Chinese Taipei, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico. The United States won the first gold medal in Softball, finishing 8-1 overall and defeating China 3-1 in the gold medal game. China took the silver medal by previously defeating the bronze medal recipients Australia in their 2-1 win. As the game of softball was popularized by the introduction into the Olympics, advancement of equipment was made in the 1990’s. Bats moved from the production of aluminum to composite material. The popularization and mass participation of softball allowed for its addition in the Olympic Games. The 2000 Olympic Games were held in Sydney, Australia and the event of Softball was ready to make its second appearance in the Games. In the 2000 Games, the United States, Japan, Australia, China, New Zealand, Italy, Canada and Cuba fought for Softball’s second gold medal. But once again it would be the United States that would repeat by winning the gold medal beating Japan 2-1. Following behind silver medal winner Japan would be Australia again with the bronze medal with a score of 1-0. The 2004 Olympics were held in Athens Greece. The event of softball in Athens was completely dominated by the Americans in every aspect. The United States went a perfect 9-0 in the tournament defeating Australia in the gold medal round to a score of 5-1. The United States outscored their opponents 51-1 in the 2004 Games. This team was known as the “Dream Team” winning gold for the third consecutive Summer Olympic Games. Along with a third consecutive gold medal finish, the United States team broke a number of Olympic Records including, most doubles, triples, runs batted in, runs scored, stolen bases, shutouts, consecutive wins, hits, homeruns, along with fewest runs allowed and lowest earned runs allowed. The 2008 Games were held in Beijing China. For the first time in Softball’s history of the Olympics the United States did not win the gold medal, Japan defeated the three time champions by a score of 3-1. The United States finished with a silver medal finish and Australia won the bronze medal. The 2008 Games was the last time Softball was played in the Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee voted in Singapore for the exclusion of both baseball and softball in the 2012 Summer Games. It is believed that the two sports were excluded from Olympic competition because of American dominance. Following this announcement and a second place finishing American players, Tairia Flowers, Kelly Kretschman, Laura Berg, Lovieanne Jung and Crystl Bustos announced retirement, solidifying the ending of an American dynasty.