Lisa Fernandez, a three-time Olympic champion and perhaps softball's signature star for more than a decade, has been left off the U.S. team's final 15-player roster for the Beijing Games.

The 37-year-old Fernandez will be a replacement player on the American team, which will attempt to win its fourth straight gold medal this summer. Fernandez was on the mound when the U.S. team won gold in Athens, completing a historic run through the tournament in which the Americans outscored the competition 51-1.

Fernandez was also the starting pitcher when the U.S. won it all in Sydney in 2000 and Atlanta in 1996.

She was making a comeback after missing three years of international competition to start a family.