TOKYO — Amanda Chidester couldn’t believe it.
“It was mind-blowing to me,” said the softball Olympian from Allen Park Cabrini. “I’ve never seen that in all my years of playing.”
At bat in the sixth inning of the gold medal game, trailing Japan by two and representing the go-ahead run, Chidester rifled a line-drive that caromed off the third-baseman’s glove. But Japan’s shortstop made an outstanding back-handed catch of the ricochet, and wheeled around to double off the USA baserunner at second. The sudden double-play squelched the rally and preserved a 2-0 victory for Japan, leaving the USA players with silver medals.
Still, the highlight-worthy play didn’t dampen the overall experience for Chidester, who was the Catholic High School League’s Walt Bazylewicz Athlete of the Year in 2008 and went on to become at stellar player at the University of Michigan.
“Of course we wanted the gold, but things didn’t go our way, and I’m definitely proud of the journey that our team has been on and how far we’ve come. There’s a lot of different factors that go into sports and so many different things that happened,” she said.
Chidester was thrilled to be able to take the field and represent her country in the Olympics. There was no guarantee that would ever happen, because the sport was not part of the summer games in 2012 and 2016, and the games were delayed from last summer because of the coronavirus pandemic. Because of a resurgence of COVID-19 in Japan this year, things were a bit iffy leading up to the opening ceremonies.
“Honestly, in 2020 it was really nerve-wracking at first. When they said they were going to postpone it, I was hopeful they were going to make it work,” Chidester told Detroit Catholic. “One thing about the Japanese culture, they love hosting events, they love sports, so I was confident they could do that.
“Once January hit and we started having our training camps, it seemed like a go,” she continued. “Once they lit the Olympic torch, it looked like it was going to happen. You held your breath until that moment, but as an athlete, you can’t constantly question things.”
Chidester has always been very athletic, playing softball, basketball and volleyball at Cabrini. But she recognized her future was in softball after her freshman year.
“I loved the sport, loved being outside, at the end of the day it was better for me as a competitor and an athlete,” she said.
Her hunch paid off, as she led the Monarchs to a pair of state championships and a state-record 80-game winning streak. Chidester set a national record for high school juniors with 90 runs batted in, and her batting average of .730 ranks second in the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s record book.
“From the very get-go, everyone knew she was very talented, but what made her special was she made it fun for her teammates. It made everyone else confident in their abilities,” Cabrini softball coach Debbie Norman said.
“I think she did herself proud with her accomplishments on the world stage,” Norman said. “She’s very infectious and because of her natural ability, it makes things fun for herself and others and the teammates just bought into it. It wasn’t just about Amanda; it was about the team. That’s what made it fun coaching her.”
“I had a great four years at Cabrini with the talent that we had during that time,” Chidester said. “Every sport was amazing in that sense. I’ve been on a lot of teams, but some of those (Cabrini) teams were some of the best teams embracing rules, being organized, buying into the system.”
Chidester remains grounded for someone who has achieved so much as a serious athlete.
“My faith plays a huge role. I have God-given talent, and it’s amazing to share my talents with the world,” she explained. “I do a lot of camps and lessons. Really involved in youth and softball and share it with the younger generation.”
Although softball will not be part of the 2024 summer games, Chidester says she is grateful to have had the chance to represent her country as an Olympian.
“It was the dream of a lifetime, right?” she said. “It was something I’d been working for ever since I graduated college at Michigan. I had been working the last nine years for it.”
There are many things Chidester will miss now that the Tokyo games are coming to a close.
“The thing that I enjoyed the most in full competitive mode is walking up every day and putting all the work you’ve done into action,” she said. “There’s an endless amount of joy, sweat, tears and heartache, and the environment of the Olympic village made it all special. I know that’s not something that lasts forever, but hey, I lived out my dream — there’s no regrets in that. I’m forever going to be proud of it.”
