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: . Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Olympics Todayâ s Paper Olympics Japan beat the U.S . for the softball gold medal again , 13 years . later https : www.nytimes.com 2021 07 27 sports olympics softball-usa-japan.html Give this article Share Advertisement Continue reading the main story Olympics Updates Japan beat the U.S . for the softball gold medal again , 13 years . later Members of the Japanese womenâ s softball team celebrated their victory after their gold medal match with the United . States Credit . James Hill for The New York Times By James Wagner Published July 27, 2021 Updated Aug . 4, 2021 YOKOHAMA , Japan â After a 13-year wait , of course it came down to this : the worldâ s softball powers , the United States and Japan , facing off for the gold medal