Yukiko Ueno

Yukiko Ueno (上野 由岐子, Ueno Yukiko, born July 22, 1982 in Fukuoka City) is a Japanese,[1] medal-winning Olympian, professional right-handed softball pitcher for Bic Camera Takasaki Bee Queen and the Japanese national team, who holds a bronze and two gold medals from the 2004, 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics, respectively. She became the first pitcher ever to throw a perfect game at the Olympics, against China in Athens.[2] With a fastball that tops out at 128 km/h (80 mph), she is widely recognized as the fastest pitcher in women's softball, although her signature pitch is her change-up, which is often cited as the best in the world.[3]

Yukiko Ueno
Bic Camera Takasaki Bee Queen – No. 17
Pitcher
Born: (1982-07-22) July 22, 1982
Fukuoka, Japan
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Medals
Women's softball
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Team
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Team
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo Team
World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2002 Saskatoon Team
Silver medal – second place 2006 Beijing Team
Gold medal – first place 2012 Whitehorse Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Haarlem Team
Silver medal – second place 2018 Chiba Team
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Busan Team
Gold medal – first place 2006 Doha Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guangzhou Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon Team
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Hangzhou Team
Asian Championship
Gold medal – first place 2017 Taichung Team

Career

2006

In 2006, World Women's Softball Championship in Beijing, she shut out the U.S. team in the semifinal, but lost the final against the same U.S. team.

Perseverance at the 2008 Olympics

In the 2008 Summer Olympics, she again lost to the U.S. in the playoff allowing four runs in the tiebreak ninth inning, after shutting out the opponent until the previous inning. Yet, she won the final against the same U.S. by pitching her fifth complete game, allowing only one run in seven innings.[4]

She threw over 600 pitches at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics in 4 days (413 in the last two days during which she completed three games, two of which went extra innings). During the semi-final and final games of the softball event, which lasted for two days and included three games, Ueno pitched 28 innings against the United States and Australia, considered the two best lineups in the world. NBC commentator Rob Baird described Ueno's feat as "one of the most amazing pitching performances in recent memory."

2020 Olympics

Ueno again joined Team Japan at the postponed 2020 Olympics in 2021. She went 2-0 for the team, allowing three earned runs, 13 hits, 6 walks and struck out 26 batters for a 0.95 ERA and 0.86 WHIP. She pitched 6 innings against the US in the gold medal game, along with teammate Miu Goto to shutout the Americans 2–0 on July 27, 2021. She became the first non-American pitcher to win and hold two gold medals in the Olympics for softball.[5][6]

The pronunciation of Ueno's surname was brought to the attention of comedy duo Hamish & Andy during the Olympics. This was due to the name being very similar to a stereotypical Australian or Strine nickname for Wayne, 'Wayno'. It also is pronounced exactly the same way to national baseball pitcher, Wayne Ough. The segment was included on their compilation album Unessential Listening.

Notes
  1. 上野 由岐子 Wow!Collection SPRING/SUMMER 2021 ~Wow!な発見盛りだくさん！注目選手を深堀りする『超選手名鑑』? (in Japanese). Japan Softball League. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  2. ABC "Beijing 2008 Softball"
  3. Softball Australia "Aussie Spirit go down to Japan in Canada Cup Final"
  4. "Game Eight US vs Japan". Teamusa.org. Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  5. "JPN 2, USA 0". Olympicssoftball.wbsc.org. 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  6. "Ueno". Olympicssoftball.wbsc.org. 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
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