Softball was on the Olympic programme from 1996 to 2008. It was introduced at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was removed from the programme for 2012 and 2016, but was added for a one-off appearance, along with baseball, for the 2020 Summer Olympics (which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Olympic softball is governed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
Softball, the Olympic program and Olympic recognition
Early attempts for Olympic inclusion
During the 1940s, Americans and Japanese were making the first overtures to get softball included on the Olympic programme. This effort was led by the American softball association and Jiro Iwano, Vice President of the Japanese Olympic Committee and President of the Japanese Softball Association.
There were efforts to get softball on the Olympic program during the 1950s. In 1950, the Softball Association of America sent letters to national organisations asking for assistance in getting the newly created International Softball Federation to include softball on the Olympic program. Australia received such a letter and responded by asking for additional information. Irene Burrows, the Australian association secretary, was extremely keen to support this and took active steps to try to work on this goal. The Australian Softball Council made an effort in 1952 to get the sport included on the programme and thought they had a decent opportunity at doing just that because the sport had a great deal of popularity, being played in over 15 countries. This effort was mirrored by the Americans with the support of other countries such as New Zealand. Efforts to improve the chances of getting softball on the 1956 programme included having New Zealand's national softball body affiliating with the American one.
These efforts continued into the 1960s, with the International Softball Federation working consistently towards inclusion. They were told in 1965 a requirement of playing the sport at the Olympics as the sport must be played in at least eleven countries who can field teams to compete at the Games and the international governing body for the sport must have at least twenty-nine national federations affiliated with it. At the time, softball only had fifteen national bodies affiliated with it.
Despite being eligible for inclusion on the programme by 1969, it was not because Olympic organisers determined the sport, alongside roller skating and water skiing was "too big and too expensive." Efforts continued to get softball on the Olympic programme during the 1970s, with the hope of the 1984 Summer Olympics being held in the United States meaning softball could at least be a demonstration sport. This did not materialise. The Barcelona Olympic Organising Committee decided to make softball and golf demonstration sports at the 1992 Summer Olympics but the IOC stepped in in 1990 because they felt its inclusion would be an "undue burden" on the organisers. The 1992 Summer Olympics frustrated softball organisers because baseball was to be a medal sport at the Games as a men's only event.
Inclusion on the Olympic programme
Softball was introduced as an Olympic sport for women only in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The decision to add the sport to the 1996 Olympic programme was made in 1995. The IOC earlier had established a committee the prototype of their International Olympic Commission on Women and Sports. Anita DeFrantz as committee chair starting 1992 would be instrumental in helping get softball on the Olympic programme.
Expulsion from the Olympic programme
On 11 July 2005, the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the Olympic program for 2012, a decision that was reaffirmed on 9 February 2006. The vote to keep softball on the programme required a simple majority of the 105 eligible voters, but the vote ended up as 52–52 with one abstention. It was officially decided in August 2009 at IOC Board meeting in Berlin that it would not be included in the 2016 Summer Olympics. This was the first time in 69 years that sports--softball and polo--had been removed from the Olympic programme. The selection of which sports to include on the London Programme was done via secret ballot.
The decision to remove softball from the Olympics in advance of the Beijing Games created a sense of urgency for some development players to make their senior national teams by 2008 as they would not otherwise have a chance to compete at the Olympics.