Baseball at the Summer Olympics

Baseball belonged from 1992 to 2008 as competition for men to the Olympic sports, but had been repeatedly Olympic appearances as a demonstration sport. 1996 Baseball Softball variant was as competition for women olympic.

  • 3.1 Qualification
  • 3.2 tournament
  • 3.3 Rules

History

A first unofficial baseball tournament has already taken place at the Olympic Games 1904 in St. Louis. In 1912 with a game against hosts Sweden in the USA for the first time an official demonstration competition instead. 1936 two American teams played against each other. In Helsinki in 1952 there was a demonstration event in pesäpallo, a baseball related Finnish sport. In baseball, there was again only in 1956 and 1964, demonstration competitions, as were two nations host with Australia and Japan, where there is a strong baseball tradition. With over 100,000 spectators, the game was the baseball game with the most viewers ever in Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Since 1984 Baseball continuously included in the Summer Games twice, first as a demonstration event. On October 13, 1986, the IOC has incorporated baseball as 25 sport in the program of the Olympic Games and was fought from 1992 as an Olympic sport. However, the interest of spectators remained relatively low, partly because baseball especially in many European countries is only found as a fringe sport, partly because the nations do not competed with their best teams. By 1996, only players could compete with amateur status; but then missing in the national teams, many of the best players because the Olympics fall in the middle of the season of Major League Baseball and other professional leagues.

In the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, it was decided in 2005 to take baseball at the 2012 Olympic Games from the Olympic program. An application in the Program Committee at the 118th IOC Session in Torino, but baseball resume in 2012, failed in 2006 with just 46 to 42 votes.

Also for the 2016 Olympic Games was baseball along with softball for election, but lost to golf and rugby. Prior to the decision of the Olympic sports 2020, the hitherto separate world associations for baseball and softball end of 2012 merged to World Baseball Softball Confederation ( WBSC ). Even that did not help: September 8, 2013, the IOC General Assembly decided against baseball / softball and took the already painted by the Executive Committee sport of wrestling again in the Olympic program for 2020 and 2024.

Medalist

→ List of Olympic champions in baseball

Medal Tally

Olympic Tournament

Qualification

In addition to the host nation, which is automatically qualified for the Olympic tournament, the other seven teams will be determined by the qualification. For 2008, two American and one Asian and European participants will be determined at the Continental Championships. After that, the best teams from Africa and Oceania play off against the second-and third-placed teams from Asia and Europe and the Third and Fourth from America in a qualifying tournament, the remaining three participants.

So far, the Netherlands has for Europe Italy four times, once attended three times, and Spain. For the Summer Games 2008, the Netherlands was qualified as European champion. Germany ( as a substitute for the lack of money not participating team of Great Britain ) and Spain participated in the qualifying tournament in March 2008 partly in Taiwan. About the tournament reached Canada, Taiwan and Korea, the qualification and thus took addition to China, the United States, Cuba, the Netherlands and Japan at the Olympic tournament in Beijing part.

Tournament mode

At the Olympic Games, first enter all eight teams in a round-robin round against each other. The four best-placed to reach the semi-finals, where then take the first to the fourth and the second against the third. The winners reach the finals, the loser fight in the match for third place for the bronze medal.

Regulate

  • The squad consists of 24 players on each team.
  • Games are terminated prematurely if a team is leading after seven innings with more than 10 runs.
  • Aluminum bats were banned after 1996.
  • For 2008, a new tiebreaker rule for the extension was introduced against the resistance of individual national associations in the short term: From the 11th inning, each team starts on offense with two runners on first and second base. In addition, the team may choose at the beginning of the 11th inning clear who comes out of the lineup to the beat, the previous two batters in the lineup as a runner then occupy the first two bases. Add in the continued tie possible further innings the order of the batter from the lineup will be respected again.
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