Softball was taken off the Olympic program after the 2008 Beijing Games, then returned for Tokyo 2020 at the local organizing committee's request.

Baseball and softball are Olympic sports again. After being taken off the official program after 2008, both sports made a comeback for the 2021 Summer Olympics -- played in 2021 thanks to a global ...

Puerto Rico, Japan, Chinese Taipei and Canada round out the top five. Team USA has won three Olympic softball gold medals (1996, 2000, 2004). Japan won the last two (2008, 2020).