Taeko Utsugi, the manager of Japan's silver medal-winning softball team, indicated on Thursday her plans to retire, saying, "This is going to be my last Olympics.
" Utsugi, who has led the development the current national team, took Japan to a third place finish in the 1998 world championship to gain a berth in the 2000 Olympics, capping a Cinderella run in Sydney with the silver medal.
Utsugi led the team, which finished fourth in Atlanta, through eight straight wins in the preliminary round and the medals playoff to land a spot in the gold medal game, only to fall in eight innings 2-1 to the United States on Tuesday.