Sports

Kinesio tape has caught the eye of many an Olympic viewer the last two weeks — covering the muscles of volleyball players, javelin throwers, even swimmers. It was invented decades ago by a Japanese chiropractor. Athletes say it eases muscle strain and allows healing, but research has yet to prove the effectiveness of the tape. Melissa Block talks with Amy Powell, a sports medicine doctor at the University of Utah about the tape.

Mike Pesca shares results from Friday's Olympic events with Melissa Block. The events include the men's 4x400m relay, the women's 4x100 relay and wrestling.

Rarely has cheating been such an issue at the Olympics until this year. From badminton to women's soccer to the South African swimmer who admitted cheating, athletes and their coaches are talking openly about gaming the system. And all of it, ironically, is playing out against the constant background music from Chariots of Fire, that iconic nod to gentlemanly, rule-observing sport.

The Bahamas men's team has won the 4x400m relay, edging past a surprisingly quick U.S. team to take the gold medal. It was the first gold medal for any male athlete from the Bahamas. The quartet ran a time of 2:56.72, setting a national record. The U.S. set a season best of 2:57.05 to take silver.

Trinidad and Tobago took the bronze medal, just ahead of Great Britain.

The Bahamas led the race after the first lap, with the U.S. running in second. And the two teams' runners stayed ahead of the pack, extending their lead to make it a two-team race.

With the Olympics drawing to a close, NBC is looking especially golden. They have had two weeks of great ratings — including record highs. What better time than on the eve of the network's new fall season to rack up two weeks of record audiences? But what might seem a slam dunk for the network is anything but.

American wrestler Jordan Burroughs has won the first and only U.S. gold medal in his sport at the London Games, beating Sadegh Saeed Goudarzi of Iran. Burroughs, the reigning world champion at the 74kg weight, won a point in the first two periods to put a quick end to the men's freestyle match.

Goudarzi took silver with the loss, and the two bronze medals went to Russian Denis Tsargush, whom Burroughs defeated in the semifinals, and Sosan Tigiev of Uzbekistan.

Every nation that sent a delegation to the London Games sent at least one female athlete — a first for the Olympics. This year's Team USA has more female than male athletes — and the women have won nearly twice as many medals: 100 total medals, by my count, to 59 for the men.

So yes, it looks like this is the Year of the Woman at the Olympics, particularly for the United States.

Four years ago, Irish boxer Paddy Barnes lost to China's Zou Shiming by a score of 15-0 in Beijing. Today in London, Barnes fought his way back into their match to tie Zou at 15-15 — but he still lost. Barnes accepted the decision, but the result might confuse anyone who isn't familiar with boxing's scoring system.

Good morning. The final weekend of the Summer Olympics is about to begin. In the medal count, the U.S. has jumped out to a 90-80 lead over China, with 39 golds to China's 37. And Russia has overtaken Great Britain, with 57 to the host nation's 54 medals.

Here's today's news that caught our interest:

Track and field will hold eight of today's 17 medal events, as the Summer Olympics moves into its final weekend. The U.S. men's basketball team plays to get into the gold medal game, and the day's highlights also include an intriguing men's soccer bronze-medal match between South Korea and Japan.

All times refer to the Eastern time zone:

Athletics

• 2:00p Men's Pole Vault Final
• 2:10p Women's 4 x 400m Relay Round 1
• 2:35p Women's Hammer Throw Final
• 2:45p Men's 4 x 100m Relay Round 1