Last night marked the closing ceremonies of the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At this years’ Olympics, there were a total of 306 events in 28 sports. In four years at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, there will be 324 events and 33 total sports. One sport re-introducing itself in the upcoming 2020 Olympics will be softball.
Softball was first introduced to the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. From then until Beijing in 2008, it was contested, and was replaced in Rio by golf and rugby. Softball, along with bowling, karate, surfing, skateboarding, and other sports, has been approved for the 2020 Olympic games. In the past Olympics, the United States, Japan, and Australia have been the top three performing countries in the sport, each with four, three, and four medals, respectively.
Center fielder, Kerry Wyborn, now Kerry Newsome, was on the Australian Olympic softball team from 2004-2008. She helped lead her team to a silver medal in Athens and a bronze medal in Beijing, overcoming a knee reconstruction in 2000 and a broken leg in 2006 prior to both games.
Recently, Newsome paid a visit to Samuelson’s. She and her husband recently moved to Fells Point, where her husband is involved in sales. Newsome brought her Olympic medals to the store, asking for help in cleaning her silver medal. She came in with a silver medal that needed to be cleaned, and left with a freshly polished silver medal.
Silver Medal – Athens, 2004
Bronze Medal – Beijing, 2008
From Australia to Baltimore, diamonds to silver, engagement rings to jewelry cleaning, our store offers it all. There’s a reason Samuelson’s has been trusted by the people of Baltimore since 1922.
