Baseball and softball see Tokyo 2020 as chance to return to Olympics
Japan’s Megu Hirose scores as U.S. team catcher Stacey Nuveman tries to apply the tag during the gold medal softball game at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the last time softball and baseball were Olympic sports.
If baseball and softball hope to return to the Olympics, their best chance might be the 2020 Tokyo Games.
On Thursday, the World Baseball Softball Confederation submitted an official proposal asking Japanese officials to have the sports included in the program.
“Adding baseball and softball -- a major global team sport and highly popular in Japan -- can help further position the Olympic Games as the center of the sporting and cultural universe,” Riccardo Fraccari, the confederation’s president, said in a statement.
The sports were dropped after 2008 and have been scrambling to win their way back ever since. They lost out to wrestling in an International Olympic Committee vote two years ago.
Now, under the IOC’s recent Agenda 2020 reform package, host cities can propose additions.
Baseball and softball make sense for Japan because of their popularity and the existence of numerous venues in that country.
Karate, billiards and bowling are among other sports reportedly interested in inclusion for 2020.
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