Venue Fengtai Softball Field Teams 8 | Dates August 12–21 | |
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Softball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place over a ten-day period starting August 12 and culminating in the medal finals on August 21. All games were played at the Fengtai Softball Field. Olympic softball is a women only competition, with men competing in the similar sport of baseball.
Contents
- Medalists
- Competition format
- Qualification
- Qualification schedule
- Preliminary round
- Medal round
- Bronze medal match
- References
This is the most recently contested softball tournament in Olympic history, as the International Olympic Committee voted to remove baseball from the program in the 2012 Olympics. Many theories abound, but the most common one is that the U.S. teams are simply too dominant in the sport, having won gold in the previous three Olympics and winning them convincingly. Along with baseball, softball was rejected for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympics at the IOC's meeting in October 2009. However, following a 2016 IOC vote, softball will again be conducted for the 2020 Games.
Medalists
In one of the major upsets of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Japan defeated U.S. 3-1 to win the gold medal. The Americans have won gold and dominated their opponents in the previous three Olympics. This is the only Olympic Softball Gold Medal that the U.S. has not won. Their dominance was cited as one of the reasons why the IOC voted to drop the sport from the 2012 Olympics.
Competition format
Eight teams compete in the Olympic softball tournament, and the competition consists of two rounds. The preliminary round follows a round robin format, where each of the teams plays all the other teams once. Following this, the top four teams advance to a page playoff system round consisting of two semifinal games, and finally the bronze and gold medal games.
Qualification
The eight teams in the Olympic softball tournament will qualify through a series of tournaments. China, as the host nation, is guaranteed one automatic entry. The top four finalists at the 2006 Softball World Championships will be qualified for the Olympic tournament. Finally, there will be continental qualifying tournaments for Europe/Africa, Pan-America, and Asia/Oceania, with the winners of each tournament earning a spot in the Olympic tournament.
Qualification schedule
^Note 1 : Chinese Taipei is the official IOC designation for the state officially referred to as the Republic of China, more commonly known as Taiwan. (See also political status of Taiwan for details.)
Preliminary round
The top four teams will advance to the semifinal round.
All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Tiebreaking procedures follow the International Softball Federation's standard procedure for the resolution of ties.
Medal round
The loser of 1&2 seed game will play the winner of the 3&4 seed game in the bronze medal match. The loser of the bronze medal match wins the bronze medal while the winner goes on to play the winner of the 1&2 seed game for the gold medal in the gold medal match.
Bronze medal match
Winner advances to gold medal match. Loser wins bronze medal.