The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) is the former worldwide governing body of baseball. It has since been superseded by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and continues to exist as the WBSC's baseball division.
Angela Marie Ruggiero is an American former ice hockey defenseman, gold medalist, and four-time Olympian. She was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 2010 to 2018 and served as a member of the Executive Board of the IOC after being elected the Chairperson of the IOC Athletes' Commission, the body that represents all Olympic athletes worldwide, a post which she held from 2016 to 2018.
Baseball at the Summer Olympics unofficially debuted at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, and was first contested as a demonstration sport at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. It became an official Olympic sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, then was played at each Olympiad through the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The sport was then dropped from the Summer Olympic program, until being revived for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for a single appearance. It is next expected to be part of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
The International Softball Federation (ISF) is the international governing body for the sport of softball with its world headquarters and training centre at Plant City, Florida. The ISF is a non-profit corporation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and SportAccord.
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is the world governing authority for surfing, SUP racing, SUP surfing, para surfing, bodyboarding and all other wave riding activities. The ISA is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
Softball was on the Olympic program from 1996 to 2008. It was introduced at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was removed from the program for 2012 and 2016, but was added for a one-off appearance, along with baseball, for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The Gambia has sent athletes to every Summer Olympic Games held since 1984, although the country has never won an Olympic medal. The Gambia is yet to compete at the Winter Olympic Games.
Anita Lucette DeFrantz is an American Olympic rower, member of the International Olympic Committee, and twice vice-president of International Rowing Federation (FISA).
The WBSC World Rankings is a ranking system for national teams in baseball, softball, and baseball5. The teams of the member nations of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), baseball's world governing body, are ranked based on their tournament results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of WBSC-recognized international tournaments. Under the existing system, rankings are based on a team's performance over the last four years, with major international tournaments awarded a higher weighting compared to minor international and continental tournaments.
Netball has never been played at the Summer Olympics, but its federation has been recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), since 1995 after a twenty-year period of lobbying. The netball community sees netball's absence at the Olympic Games as a hindrance to the global growth of the game, depriving it of media attention and funding. The IOC requires a high geographical scope for inclusion in the Olympics, but netball is mostly played in Commonwealth countries. When the IOC recognized netball's federation, it opened up sources of funds that the global netball community had not been able to access before, including the (IOC), national Olympic committees and sports organisations, and state and federal governments.
Riccardo Fraccari is a world sport administrator, holding various high-ranking positions, most notably as president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation and International Baseball Federation. In August 2016 under Fraccari, the International Olympic Committee voted to reinstate baseball and softball as Olympic sports for the Tokyo 2020 Games. He was elected WBSC president in May, 2014 for the first term, re-elected in July, 2022, for the second term, and after completing his first term from 2014 to 2021, is now currently serving a second full 7-year term.
World Baseball Softball Confederation is the world governing body for the sports of baseball, softball, and Baseball5. It was established in 2013 by the merger of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and International Softball Federation (ISF), the former world governing bodies for baseball and softball, respectively. Under WBSC's organizational structure, IBAF and ISF now serve as the Baseball Division and Softball Division of WBSC. Each division is governed by an executive committee, while the WBSC is governed by an executive board.
María de la Soledad Casado Estupiñán is a Spanish sports administrator and triathlete. She has been President of the International Triathlon Union since 2008, and as of 2017, she is the only female Spanish member of the International Olympic Committee. Marisol is the only woman to preside over an International Summer Sport Federation and one of (only) two in the entire Olympic program, the other being Kate Caithness of curling.
Aïcha Garad Ali is a Djiboutian member of the International Olympic Committee since 2012. Garad Ali is the incumbent President of the Djibouti National Olympic and Sports Committee as of 2005 and was the vice president of the Djibouti Handball Federation from 1987 to 1993.
Kristin Kloster Aasen is the former first vice president of Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports from 2015 to 2019. She was the president of the Norwegian Equestrian Federation from 2003 to 2012, and elected onto the International Olympic Committee in 2017. While with the IOC, Assen was part of commissions for the 2026 Winter Olympics, 2026 Winter Paralympics and 2032 Summer Olympics.
This article contains lists of achievements in major senior-level international baseball and softball tournaments according to first-place, second-place and third-place results obtained by teams representing different nations. The objective is not to create combined medal tables; the focus is on listing the best positions achieved by teams in major international tournaments, ranking the nations according to the most number of podiums accomplished by teams of these nations.
Helen Margaret Brownlee is an Australian executive with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC). In 2013, she was the first woman to be elected as one of the vice presidents of the AOC executive board.
Felicite Rwemarika was born on 9 March 1958 in Ruanda-Urundi. She has been a member of the IOC since 2018. Rwemarika has organized many international conferences on gender equality in sports and in society as a whole. She is also a speaker at the American University of Nigeria on unity and reconciliation through sport. Rwemarika organizes workshops and seminars to raise awareness for gender equality in sports and promote sport as a powerful tool for peace-building, conflict resolution, and economic empowerment. Rwemarika has dedicated herself to heal women who were victims of the 1994 Tutsi genocide through activities which are held by the Association of Kigali Women in Sports (AKWOS). She is a supporter of gender equality and encourages the wider participation of both women and men in the conversations about gender-based violence, women empowerment, HIV/AIDS reconciliation and entrepreneurship. She is also an organizer of financial literacy trainings and bespoke competitions for the AKWOS members.
Li Lingwei is a Chinese badminton player of the 1980s. She was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee in 2012, and in December 2016, she was elected Vice President of the Chinese Olympic Committee. Li is heavily involved in improving women’s participation and fair representation in sport.
Kereyn Maree Smith is a New Zealand sports administrator. She was the chief executive and secretary general of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) from January 2011 to December 2021. She has also held several other roles in sports administration.
