There were no sadder sights at the Olympics this year than the faces of the American women’s softball team, losing their heavily favored gold medal to Japan 3-1 Thursday.
Japanese right-hander Yukiko Ueno shut down the powerhouse American offense, handing the girls their first loss in any level of competition since the 2000 Sydney Games.
This comes as both baseball and softball have been cast away from the Summer Games as “too American” by the International Olympic Committee.
This has been a bad Olympics for American women.
The softball team puts a cap on stunning defeats handed down this year. This week, gold medal lock Lolo Jones stumbled out of the medals on her second-to-last hurdle in the women’s 100m after opening up a lead late in the race. In the women’s 400m, American favorite Sanya Richards’ hamstring ran out of gas, putting her from first to third quickly.
In gymnastics, Alicia Sacramone fell off the balance beam and three of the girls stepped out of bounds on the floor routines in the second place loss to the Chinese. Sacramone then got ripped off in the vault after a very questionable call to give the bronze to China’s Cheng Fei, even though Fei fell on her second run and Sacramone landed both of hers.
Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor couldn’t be stopped in beach volleyball, however. On a rainy day, they beat the Chinese 21-18, 21-18 for the gold. The women’s basketball and soccer teams remain on top of their games and will play for the gold next. Update: The USA women’s soccer team beat Brazil 1-0 Thursday for the gold medal.
I may have to write a obituary on our performance against Japan. I’ve seen chokes of all shapes and sizes, but this one takes the cake. You also forgot that the women’s water polo team lost, too. Netherlands, 9-8.