Leigh's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Softball
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1989
State Born: VIC
About Leigh
Hailing from a lineage of Australian softball representatives, Leigh Godfrey took to the game from a young age and never looked back.
In 2005, Godfrey won the Most Valuable Player at the U16 Girls’ Nationals, with her clear talent leading the now 32-year-old to selection in the Australian side for the 2007 Junior World Championships. Throughout her junior years, Godfrey was preferred at second base, however is now a fixture for the Aussie Spirit as an outfielder.
Two years later, Godfrey travelled to America to join Radford University, where she was tested and exposed to the best softballers of the collegiate game.
In 2010, Godfrey played in her first senior Women’s Softball World Championship, and has enjoyed continual selections for the Spirit ever since. Godfrey was named for the side’s 2019 Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifier where the Australians secured their long-awaited ticket to Tokyo 2020.
Godfrey made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 games, competing alongside the women's softball team. Australia would face a first-round matchup against Japan, now not only the past Olympic champions but also the hosts of the event. In their opening fixture, the Aussies would fall to Japan (8)-(1) a rough loss to the hosts, who would go on to win consecutive Gold medals.
Leigh would help Australia bounce back in their second fixture of the games, where they would hold a (1)-(0) lead against Italy until the end of the tie. They would not, however, continue this run of form, later falling to eventual bronze medalists in Canada.
This would set up a must-win match against the United States, one of the strongest teams competing in the discipline. Australia would fall agonisingly close to a result against the US, in a fixture that would remain scoreless for 7 innings and required to go into extras. The United States would ultimately edge out the match, winning (2) - (1).
In their final game, Australia would play Mexico for a place in the bronze medal match. The team would, unfortunately, fail to qualify for their third medal consecutive medal matchup, losing the match (4) - (1).
Read More
