| Softball at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Softball pictogram for the 2020 Summer Olympics | ||||||||||
| Venue | Yokohama Stadium Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | 21–27 July 2021 | |||||||||
| No. of events | 1 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 90 from 6 nations | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Qualification | men |
| Tournament | men |
| Rosters | men |
| Softball at the 2020 Summer Olympics | |
 | |
| Qualification | women |
| Tournament | women |
| Rosters | women |
Softball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in its first Olympic appearance since 2008.[1] The tournament consisted of six teams. Baseball/softball was one of five optional sports added to the program of the 2020 Summer Olympics.[2] The first six opening round games were played at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium in an effort to highlight Fukushima's recovery from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, while the remaining games were played at Yokohama Stadium.[3] Softball will not return in 2024.[4]
It was originally scheduled to be held in 2020, but on 24 March 2020, the Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] Because of this pandemic, the games were played behind closed doors.[6] The opening match of the event between Australia and Japan meant that for the first time since 1996, the opening match of the summer Olympiad was not a football match.[7]
- ^ "Baseball/Softball". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Baseball and Softball not Included Among Shortlisted Sports for Paris 2024 Olympics". Team USA. 26 February 2019. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Softball schedule announced for Tokyo 2020 Games". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ "Gender equality and youth at the heart of the Paris 2024 Olympic Sports Programme". International Olympic Committee. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- ^ "Joint Statement from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ Armour, Nancy (8 July 2021). "Tokyo Olympics to be held without fans after new COVID-19 state of emergency declared". USA Today. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- ^ "200 days to softball's historic Olympic return at Tokyo 2020". World Baseball Softball Confederation. Retrieved 2 January 2021.