Softball at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Softball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing took place over a ten-day period starting August 12 and culminating in the medal finals on August 21. All games were played at the Fengtai Softball Field. Olympic softball is a women only competition, with men competing in the similar sport of baseball.
This is the most recently contested softball tournament in Olympic history, as the International Olympic Committee voted to remove baseball from the program in the 2012 Olympics. Along with baseball, softball was rejected for inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympics at the IOC's meeting in October 2009. However, following a 2016 IOC vote, softball will again be conducted for the 2020 Games.
Medalists
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
Naho Emoto Motoko Fujimoto Megu Hirose Emi Inui Sachiko Ito Ayumi Karino Satoko Mabuchi Yukiyo Mine Masumi Mishina Rei Nishiyama Hiroko Sakai Rie Sato Mika Someya Yukiko Ueno Eri Yamada | Monica Abbott Stacey Nuveman Crystl Bustos Jennie Finch Laura Berg Lauren Lappin Lovieanne Jung Cat Osterman Tairia Flowers Andrea Duran Jessica Mendoza Victoria Galindo Kelly Kretschman Caitlin Lowe Natasha Watley | Jodie Bowering Kylie Cronk Kelly Hardie Tanya Harding Sandy Lewis Simmone Morrow Tracey Mosley Stacey Porter Melanie Roche Justine Smethurst Danielle Stewart Natalie Titcume Natalie Ward Belinda Wright Kerry Wyborn |
Participants
Competition format
Eight teams compete in the Olympic softball tournament, and the competition consists of two rounds. The preliminary round follows a round robin format, where each of the teams plays all the other teams once. Following this, the top four teams advance to a page playoff system round consisting of two semifinal games, and finally the bronze and gold medal games.Qualification
The eight teams in the Olympic softball tournament will qualify through a series of tournaments. China, as the host nation, is guaranteed one automatic entry. The top four finalists at the 2006 Softball World Championships will be qualified for the Olympic tournament. Finally, there will be continental qualifying tournaments for Europe/Africa, Pan-America, and Asia/Oceania, with the winners of each tournament earning a spot in the Olympic tournament.Qualification schedule
: Chinese Taipei is the official IOC designation for the state officially referred to as the Republic of China, more commonly known as Taiwan.Group stage
Preliminary round
The top four teams will advance to the semifinal round.All times are China Standard Time
| Team | W | L | RS | RA | WIN% | GB | Tiebreaker |
| 7 | 0 | 53 | 1 | 1.000 | - | - | |
| 6 | 1 | 23 | 13 | .857 | 1 | - | |
| 5 | 2 | 30 | 11 | .714 | 2 | - | |
| 3 | 4 | 17 | 23 | .429 | 4 | - | |
| 2 | 5 | 10 | 23 | .286 | 5 | 2-0 vs. CHN/VEN | |
| 2 | 5 | 19 | 21 | .286 | 5 | 1-1 vs. TPE/VEN | |
| 2 | 5 | 15 | 35 | .286 | 5 | 0-2 vs. CHN/TPE | |
| 1 | 6 | 8 | 48 | .143 | 6 | - |
Tiebreaking procedures follow the International Softball Federation's standard procedure for the resolution of ties.
;August 12
;August 13
;August 14
;August 15
;August 16
;August 17
;August 18