History of Baseball in the Olympic Games

Baseball first took the mound in an Olympic competition as an Exhibition Sport in the 1912 Stockholm Games.
It remained as an exhibition sport at Berlin (1936), Helsinky (1952), Melbourne (1952) and Tokyo (1964).
Throughout its formative years on the Olympic scene, Australia only ever sent a contingent to the Melbourne
games where a reported record crowd of 114,000 witnessed its home country take on the United States of America.

In Los Angeles in 1984, Baseball became an Olympic demonstration sport. It made its second appearance
as a demonstration event in Seoul in 1988 where Australia was represented.

Becoming an Official Olympic Sport in Barcelona in 1992, it was the Cubans who took the honour of winning
the first ever Olympic Gold Medal, defeating Chinese Taipei in the final. Japan took the bronze medal ahead of
the USA. Puerto Rico, Dominicana, Italia and Espana made up the respective minor placings.

Australia’s launch onto the Official Olympic Baseball Competition came in Atlanta in 1996. Cuba again stood
atop the podium with Japan second and the USA third. Nicaragua finished a credible fourth while the
Netherlands, Italia, Australia and South Korea made up the remaining places.

In Sydney Cuba, Japan, the USA, Netherlands and Italy will all make their third appearance in the Official
Baseball Competition while Australia and Korea get set for their second taste of Olympic pressure. South
Africa will take the field in Sydney for the first time as a member of the Olympic Baseball Tournament.

For more information on the history of Australian Baseball, visit Joe Clark's website Australian Baseball History