Olympic Day: Baseball/Softball - A Proud Olympic History and a Very Bright Future
The international Baseball/Softball community celebrates Olympic Day on 23 June, not only aiming to inspire people to participate in sport, but also reflecting on the exciting Olympic journey ahead on the back of its rich Olympic history.
With Baseball having first featured in the Olympic Games as a demonstration sport at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912, baseball has gone on to be a part of 13 Olympic Games – seven as a demonstration sport – including its official debut at Barcelona 1992.
Softball, meanwhile, first featured on the Olympic programme at Atlanta 1996 and has been a part of five Olympic Games.
With a rich Olympic history behind it, the future looks equally bright with men’s baseball and women’s softball featuring in the LA28 Olympic Games while the WBSC’s urban sport – Baseball5 – is part of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, being the first mixed gender sport to feature at an Olympic Games.
And with Baseball, Softball and Baseball5 increasingly being featured in multi sport events, the future for the three disciplines looks even more exciting.
The theme of Olympic Day 2025 is “Let’s Move?” which, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to inspire and support people to move more. “Let’s Move?” shines a light on the benefits of playing sport and working out together, celebrating all the inspiration, connection and enjoyment this brings.
The IOC Presidential Handover will take place today at the Olympic House with a changing of the guard with President Thomas Bach handing over the Olympic reigns to Kirsty Coventry. Bach has been a strong supporter of Baseball, Softball and Baseball5 and also attended the official opening of ‘Home Plate’ - the WBSC’s headquarters in Pully, next to the Olympic capital, Lausanne – in 2021.
With Baseball5 at Dakar 2026, and Baseball/Softball in LA28, and a new IOC President at the helm, it's definitely exciting Olympics times ahead.