YAMADA Eri

Japan
Baseball/Softball
8 Mar 1984
37
Female
1.65/5'4''
FUJISAWA
 
Japan

Events and Medals

Discipline Event Rank Medal
BSB Baseball/Softball Softball
JPN
Japan
 1 Gold Medal

Schedule

Change
Start Time Location Event Status
Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium
Softball Opening Round
#1
AUS
Australia
1
JPN
Japan
8
Finished
Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium
Softball Opening Round
#5
MEX
Mexico
2
JPN
Japan
3
Finished
Yokohama Baseball Stadium
Softball Opening Round
#9
JPN
Japan
5
ITA
Italy
0
Finished
Yokohama Baseball Stadium
Softball Opening Round
#11
CAN
Canada
0
JPN
Japan
1
Finished
Yokohama Baseball Stadium
Softball Opening Round
#13
JPN
Japan
1
USA
United States
2
Finished
Yokohama Baseball Stadium
Softball Gold Medal Game
#17
JPN
Japan
2
USA
United States
0
Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

:
Olympic Games
RankEventYearLocation
1Softball2008Beijing, CHN
3Softball2004Athens, GRE

Softball World Championship
RankEventYearLocation
1Softball2014Haarlem, NED
1Softball2012Whitehorse, YT, CAN
2Softball2018Chiba, JPN
2Softball2016Surrey, BC, CAN
2Softball2010Caracas, VEN
2Softball2006Beijing, CHN

Asian Games
RankEventYearLocation
1Softball2018Indonesia

Asian Championships
RankEventYearLocation
1Softball2019Jakarta, INA
1Softball2017Taichung, TPE

World Cup
RankEventYearLocation
1Softball2017Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Australia Pacific Cup
RankEventYearLocation
1Softball2020Blacktown, NSW, AUS
1Softball2018Blacktown, NSW, AUS
:
Woman Ichiro (bs-asahi.co.kr, 11 Feb 2018; olympicchannel.com, 20 Mar 2019; tv-tokyo.co.jp, 21 May 2020)
:
Social media. (tokyo2020.org, 17 Sep 2020)
:
Athlete, Office Worker
:
English, Japanese
:
Hitachi Sundiva [Yokohama, JPN] since 2002
:
Haruka Saito [club], JPN; Reika Utsugi [national], JPN (softball.or.jp, 23 Jun 2014; hitachi.co.jp, 31 Jul 2014)
:
Outfield (hitachi.co.jp, 31 Jul 2014)
:
Bats left, throws left (hitachi.co.jp 13 Apr 2020)
:
2003 for Japan (olympicchannel.com, 20 Mar 2019)
:
She suffered a broken nose in high school after she collided with an outfield fence. (tv-tokyo.co.jp, 02 Aug 2018)
:
She began playing softball at age 16 at Atsugi Commercial High School in Japan. (hitachi.co.jp, 31 Jul 2014; olympicchannel.com, 20 Mar 2019)
:
She initially took up baseball in grade one of primary school due to the influence of her two older brothers, and played with the men's baseball team at her middle school. When she entered high school, she found that women would not be eligible to compete at the Japanese High School Baseball Championship, so she transferred to a high school that had a strong softball team. (hitachi.co.jp, 31 Jul 2014; olympicchannel.com, 20 Mar 2019; Japan Olympic Team YouTube channel, 14 Nov 2019; mizuno.jp, 12 Aug 2018)
:
To win gold at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (olympicchannel.com, 17 Sep 2020)
:
Japanese baseball player Ichiro Suzuki. (douban.com, 27 Apr 2009; iza.ne.jp, 30 Aug 2019)
:
She always steps on to the field with her right foot first and when she is preparing to bat she points her bat at the pitcher and then touches the sleeve of her uniform. (Athlete, 27 Sep 2006; pia.co.jp, 09 May 2008)
:
"Softball is my life. It is the only way that I can express my thoughts to people." (mizuno.jp, 12 Aug 2018)
:
She was named a Best Nine Player at the Japan Women's Softball League [JWSL] awards ceremonies in 2002, 2003, each year from 2005-2009 and 2011-2015, and in 2017. (hitachi.co.jp 13 Apr 2020)

She received the Best Batter Award at the JWSL awards ceremonies in 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2015. (hitachi.co.jp 13 Apr 2020)

She was given and the Best RBI Award, the Best Home Run Award and the Best Rookie Award at the 2002 JWSL awards ceremony. (hitachi.co.jp 13 Apr 2020)

General Interest

General
VETERAN PLAYER
She was called up to the Japanese team in 2003, and was the second-youngest Japanese player on the team that won bronze at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Four years later she captained the Japanese team that won gold at the 2008 Games in Beijing. "To be honest, I did have moments when I considered quitting softball after Beijing 2008, but even though softball was excluded from the Olympic programme, there were still many children out there who continued playing the sport. So, it wasn't so much about whether I wanted to continue playing or not, but more about wanting to open up a future for the very young softball players and to give back to our supporters by delivering results. It was this aspiration that gave me the energy to remain active as a player to this day." (the-ans.jp, 23 Jun 2020; hitachi.co.jp 13 Apr 2020; olympicchannel.com, 20 Mar 2019, 17 Sep 2020; Japan Olympic Team YouTube channel, 14 Nov 2019; tv-tokyo.co.jp, 02 Aug 2018)

NPF EXPERIENCE
She played for the National Pro Fastpitch [NPF] teams the Chicago Bandits in 2013 and Dallas Charge in 2015. (olympicchannel.com, 20 Mar 2019; hitachi.co.jp 13 Apr 2020)

Legend
:
Gold Medal
:
Gold Medal Event
:
Silver Medal Event
:
Bronze Medal Event
Content 1 (removed through CDN)
Content 2 (removed through CDN).
Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos