FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 8, 2008

SOFTBALL ACTIVE OFF THE FIELD AT OLYMPICS

BEIJING, CHINA -- The first pitch at the sport’s fourth Olympics is still four days away, but softball will have been very active here at the 2008 Games when the opening game starts on August 12. Two days ago Mr. Chen Xu, the Competition Manager for this year’s Olympic softball tournament took part in the torch relay and tonight the sport will have a noticeable presence as well.

During the Opening Ceremonies for the Games this evening, Lai Sheng Jung of the 2008 Chinese Taipei Olympic softball team will be her country’s flag bearer during the athletes’ procession into the National Stadium. In addition, the Venezuela Olympic softball team will march with their country’s flag in tonight’s event. Infielder Maria Soto, the team captain, will start with the flag, which will be transferred at regular intervals to a different player as the procession continues, with each Venezuelan softball athlete eventually having the chance to carry it.

ISF President Don Porter said, “It’s a great honor for our sport to have these opportunities to be spotlighted here at the Summer Games. We are very proud of each of these individuals who are participating in these activities. These will all lead up to what I’m sure will be an outstanding Olympic softball tournament.”

Lai Sheng Jung, 29, will be making her second Olympic appearance, having pitched 16-plus innings in three games in Athens four years ago. She posted impressive statistics last year in helping her team win the Asia/Oceania Olympic qualifier that got them here (15 innings pitched, 2-0 won-lost record, nine strikeouts, and a 0.47 earned run average).

For Venezuela, this marks their first Summer Games softball appearance, having won the Americas Olympic qualifier last August.

The other six teams participating in the 2008 Olympic softball competition besides the two mentioned above are Australia, Canada, China, Japan, the Netherlands, and USA.

 

The ISF is the world governing body of the sport as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). Softball (women's fast pitch) made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. There are 131 affiliated countries in the ISF and millions of participants in the sport worldwide.

For more information, please contact ISF Director of Communications Bruce Wawrzyniak at brucew@internationalsoftball.com or (813) 864-0100, ext. 229.