Baseball at the Summer Olympics unofficially debuted at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, 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 up until 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.
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.
Monica Cecilia Abbott is a retired American professional softball player. Abbott was an All-American pitcher for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in college before starting a professional career in the NPF and in the Japan Softball League. In international competition, she has played for Team USA from 2005 including the national softball team winning a silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Abbott is the NCAA Division I leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts and innings.
The Japan women's national softball team is the national team of Japan in international softball competitions. It is governed by the Japan Softball Association. They are currently ranked #2 in the world by the International Softball Federation. In four Olympic Games, since 1996 until 2008, Japan has won one gold medal, a silver medal and a bronze medal. In the top four nations at the Olympics, Japan is the second most successful national team, following the United States, and beating out Australia and China with one silver medal. After winning the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Japanese national team was defeated by the United States team at the XII Women's Softball World Championship in Caracas, Venezuela.
Stacey Porter is an Australian professional indigenous softball first/third baseman. She represents New South Wales in Australian national competitions, where she has won several national championships on the junior and senior team. She played university softball for the University of Hawaii from 2001 to 2003 where she set several records and was named to the All-American team. She plays professional softball in Japan. She represented Australia at the junior level and continues to represent Australia at the senior level and is current Australian Captain. Stacey competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics where she won a silver medal and the 2008 Summer Olympics where she won a bronze medal and has competed in multiple world softball championships.
The Australia women's national softball team, also known as the Aussie Spirit, is the national softball team of Australia. It is governed by Softball Australia and takes part in international softball competitions. They are one of Australia's most successful women's sporting teams on the world stage, and they have achieved outstanding results over the last 3 decades. Alongside the USA team, the Aussie Spirit are the only other team to medal at all 4 Olympics that softball was included as a sport in the Olympics program. At the inaugural Women's Softball World Championship held in Melbourne, 1965. Australia claimed the first ever title, winning Gold and stamped themselves as a pioneer in the sport.
Jennifer Lynn Brundage is an American, former collegiate All-American softball player and current associate head coach for Michigan. She played college softball for the UCLA Bruins from 1992 to 1995 and won the 1992 Women's College World Series. Brundage was named Honda Sports Award for softball as Player of the Year in 1995. As a part of Team USA softball, she won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Danielle Henderson is an American, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, retired professional All-Star softball pitcher who is currently the head coach at UMass. Henderson was a starting pitcher for the UMass Minutewomen softball from 1996 to 1999. Henderson also played professionally in National Pro Fastpitch from 2004 to 2007, where she currently ranks top-10 in career strikeout ratio (6.8). Along with numerous school records, she is the Atlantic 10 Conference career leader in ERA, shutouts, perfect games (3) and WHIP. Henderson represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal.
Michelle Ruether Venturella is an American, former collegiate All-American, gold medal winning Olympian, left-handed softball player and former Head Coach, originally from South Holland, Illinois. Venturella played for the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Conference, being named a three-time all-conference honoree and the 1994 Player of The Year. She later served as an alternate for the 1996 Olympics and then winning a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics for Team USA softball. She is the former head coach at Washington University in St. Louis.
Danielle Elaine Lawrie is a Canadian, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, professional All-Star softball pitcher and current sports commentator. Lawrie played college softball at Washington, in which she was part of the 2009 Women's College World Series championship team and was named Most Outstanding Player. Lawrie currently plays for the Canada women's national softball team, including during the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal.
Victoria Gran Hayward is a Canadian Olympic athlete, a professional softball player and the current head coach for the University of Nevada softball program. She played college softball at the University of Washington from 2011 to 2014, professional softball with the National Pro Fastpitch league from 2015 to 2019 and currently competes in the Athletes Unlimited softball league. She is an outfielder who bats and throws left-handed. She has played for the Canadian Senior Women's softball team since June 2009 and was team captain when Canada won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Kaia Parnaby is an Australian, former collegiate All-American, 2020 Olympian, left-handed professional softball pitcher, originally from Sydney. She is a pitcher and earned a scholarship to and played for the Australian Institute of Sport. She played university softball for the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine team in the Big West Conference where she was recognized as all-conference and the 2013 Pitcher of The Year. She also helped them to their first-ever appearance at the 2010 Women's College World Series. She also played for the Aussie Peppers, a traveling team affiliate in the National Pro Fastpitch. She is a member of the senior Australia women's national softball team and played in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Leigh Melissa Godfrey is an Australian softball player. She played softball for Radford University in the United States. In Australia, she represents Western Australia in national competitions. She has represented Australia on the junior and senior team. She is trying to earn a spot to compete at the 2012 ISF XIII Women's World Championships.
Belinda White is a South Australian softball player. She briefly attend Troy University, where she played on the softball team. She plays club softball for the Sturt Falcons and represents South Australia in national competitions. She has held softball scholarships with the Australian Institute of Sport, represented Australia on the junior and senior level, and is working to qualify for the 2012 ISF XIII Women's World Championships.
Rachel Lauren Garcia is an American former softball pitcher. She most recently served as the pitching coach for UC San Diego. She played college softball for the UCLA Bruins and led the Bruins to the 2019 Women's College World Series championship, where she was named the Most Outstanding Player.
Haylie McCleney is an American former professional softball outfielder. She played college softball for Alabama. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal. She most recently played in the Athletes Unlimited Softball league.
Ellen Roberts is an Australian, former collegiate, right-handed professional softball pitcher. Roberts played for Ogaki Minamo in the Japan Diamond Softball League.
Janet Leung is a Canadian former professional softball player. She played professionally for the Canadian Wild of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). She played college softball at Brown University from 2012 to 2016 and earned All-Ivy all four years. She has been a member of Canada women's national softball team since 2017 and helped the team make history by winning Canada's first medal in the sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Sashel Aitiana Palacios Barajas is an American softball catcher of Mexican descent. After playing college softball for Arizona State, she embarked on a professional career in 2018. She also helped the Mexico national team qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which finished the tournament in fourth place.
Taylah Tsitsikronis is an Australian female softball Olympian. She was born in Sydney, Australia on 3 July 1994.
