Tanya Victoria Harding (born 23 January 1972 in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

) is an Australian

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

player. She competed for Australia for four consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, starting in 1996. Three times she claimed a bronze medal (1996, 2000, 2008), and once a silver medal (2004).

Playing career

The Queenslander was ranked in the top five pitchers in the world for over a decade. In 1995, Harding enrolled at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

for one quarter. She played on the squad that won the NCAA women's softball championships, and was named MVP of the tournament. After UCLA captured the NCAA National Championship, Harding returned to her homeland without taking final exams or earning a single college credit. However, in 1997 UCLA was stripped of its 1995 title for scholarship violations. Three softball players had been granted soccer scholarships, putting the Bruins three over the limit for softball. Although the three players involved were not identified, it was believed that one of them was Harding. Runner-up Arizona was not declared the champion, as there was no way to determine if Arizona would have won had Harding not been involved. Officially, there is no champion for 1995. In 2022, she was inducted into

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

Notes

External links

Official website

1972 births Living people Australian softball players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in softball Olympic softball players for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Softball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Softball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Softball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Softball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Softball players from Brisbane Sportswomen from Queensland UCLA Bruins softball players Women's College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century Australian sportswomen {{Australia-softball-bio-stub