Japan beat the U.S. for the softball gold medal again, 13 years later.
On Monday, Japan rested Ueno and lost to the United States in the teams’ final game of round-robin play, a contest that essentially did not matter: Both teams were by far the best of the tournament, and they had already claimed spots in the gold medal game. A day later, with their best pitcher on the mound, Japan won with six scoreless innings from Ueno.
The game was the final Olympic appearance for Osterman, 38, and Abbott, 35, two veterans who also lost to Ueno and Japan in the 2008 final.
At the time, the United States had never failed to win an Olympic gold medal in softball, dating to the sport’s introduction at the Games in 1996. So when the sport returned to the Tokyo Games, there was little doubt that the United States and Japan would arrive back at this very position again, for the third time in Olympic softball history, fighting for the top prize.
Osterman, who entered Tuesday without having allowed a run in nearly 13 innings this tournament, started the game for the United States. She coughed up an infield single in the first inning — a comebacker she couldn’t field cleanly — and a double in the second. But she escaped without any damage, getting help from right fielder Michelle Moultrie and her running catch at the wall to end the second.
