Laura Berg, with three gold and one silver medals, is the most successful Olympic athlete in softball.Australian player Natalie Ward won bronze in 1996, 2000, and 2008 and silver in 2004, one of four players to medal in four tournaments.United States athlete Lisa Fernandez won gold medals in the first three Olympic softball tournaments.
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 PresidentJacques 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 fielderLaura 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]