The sports are back after a 13-year absence, with just six countries competing in each. Here’s how the tournaments work.
For the first time in 13 years, baseball and softball will be contested at the Olympics. Thanks to Japan’s ardent love of both sports, baseball and softball are back in the Games after being voted out in 2005 as permanent Olympic offerings. The criticisms then were that the sports weren’t global enough and, in baseball’s case, the best players in the world didn’t participate. Baseball, played by men in the Olympics, had officially joined the Games in 1992 and softball, played by women, in 1996. This summer is a long time coming for several athletes. Some softball players had retired and then came out of retirement when their sport was brought back for the Tokyo Games. Others stuck it out for years hoping for this moment. The return of softball and baseball will be brief, however, since neither is a permanent Olympic sport. They weren’t included by the organizing committee of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. But there is hope: Baseball and softball are widely expected to return in 2028, when Los Angeles is the host. In previous Olympics, eight teams competed in each sport’s tournament. This year, there will be only six. In baseball, the teams are Japan (which has appeared in every Olympics for baseball and is ranked No.1 in the world), the United States (which won gold in 2000 and is ranked No.4) and South Korea (which won gold in 2008 and is ranked No.3). Making their first appearances in the Olympics for baseball are Mexico, which is No.5 in the world, and Israel, the Cinderella of the tournament and ranked No.24. The Dominican Republic, the last team to qualify and No.7 in the world, rounds out the field.
