Photo/Illutration Yukiko Ueno pitches in the gold medal game against the United States on July 27. (Hikaru Uchida)

Softball pitcher Yukiko Ueno added to her legend--and another gold medal--in what was most likely the final Olympic game in her long career.

But for younger players of the Japanese team, they also may never again play in an Olympics.

The sport has been taken off the menu for the Paris Olympics in 2024 because of general disinterest in both softball and baseball in Europe.

That means the current group of softball players both in Japan and overseas will have to maintain their skill level for seven years for a chance to play at the Los Angeles Games in 2028. And it is still unclear if softball will even be brought back for those Olympics, despite the huge interest in the sport in the United States.

Ueno showed that staying at such a high level over a prolonged period can be done.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when she was 26, Ueno literally carried the Japanese team on her back. She threw 413 pitches over the final three games to lead Japan to the gold medal.

Thirteen years later, after softball was dropped from the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Ueno, now 39, found herself starting the softball final in the Tokyo Games against a familiar gold-medal-game opponent, the United States, on July 27.

She escaped early scoring threats by the U.S. team with the help of some fine defensive plays and kept the Americans off the scoreboard until Miu Goto, 19 years Ueno’s junior, came on in relief.

In a preliminary round game against Mexico, Goto entered in the 7th inning with the scored tied. She did not give up a run over two innings as Japan got a walk-off win in the 8th inning.

Goto was also stellar against the Americans while the Japanese team built a two-run lead.

But she appeared a bit nervous.

Ueno was brought back in under the unique softball re-entry rule to pitch the seventh and final inning.

She mowed down the three American batters to cement the 2-0 victory and ensure that Japan will be the two-time Olympic defending champion for many years to come.

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