Why are the Olympians wearing colored tape on random parts of their bodies?

The colored tape the Olympians and other athletes wear is called “Kinesio® Tex Tape”, which is essentially just an elastic cotton strip with an acrylic, heat activated adhesive.  

The tape was designed in the 1970s by a Japanese chiropractic and acupuncture specialist, Kenzo Kase. To date, there hasn’t been a single study to conclusive show that this tape actually does anything the makers and athletes claim it does, though as Kevin Anderson, director of Kinesio UK, states “There’s a lot more needed on the research side to confirm the positive results we’re seeing so far.” (In fact, there have been numerous studies in the over 30 years it’s been around and so far the results of using the tape have been more or less in-line with the placebo effect. It’s interesting that the company itself can make such claims when they apparently have not done research themselves to back them despite being around for over 30 years; otherwise, I’d assume Mr. Anderson would be citing said research, rather than saying research is needed.)

So to answer your question as to why Olympians and other athletes are wearing colored tape – because they think it helps in some medically significant way. The lack of evidence to support this never stopped athletes from wearing Phiten bracelets/necklaces or Power Balance holographic bracelets, which in their heyday both got amazing reviews from athletes as to the performance benefits, only to go out of fashion when it was conclusively shown that they didn’t do anything (and when the sponsorship dollars to said athletes dried up).

So it’s not surprising that Kinesio tape has become popular; it certainly seems more believably beneficial than an over priced plastic bracelet with a holographic sticker on it. Further, the placebo benefit is potentially better than nothing.  Basically, if nothing else, it’s probably good in such athletic competitions to think you have a slight edge… the power of positive thinking and all that.  As Amy Powell, associate professor of sports medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine said in a recent interview, “Anything that [athletes] perceive as an edge, they’ll try, whether it’s scientific or not. And the athletes are convinced that [Kinesio tape] is really helpful.  It wouldn’t be the worst placebo in the world; it’s not doing any harm.”

As mentioned, this tape has been around for a while, even seen in the Olympics since 1988, but has only recently become widely popular among athletes after Kinesio very wisely donated 50,000 rolls of their tape to be used by various Olympians from 58 countries during the 2008 Olympic Games.  They also switched gears from primarily offering skin colored tape to pushing colored tape.  They say on their website, “The colors were developed to be compatible with color therapy…”  And, more accurate and surprisingly candid, they go on to state the colors were made to “provide field advertising at athletic events, a conversational opener, and instant product recognition.”

According to sports chiropractor and strength and conditioning specialist, Chad Peters, they also “paid [Olympic volleyball player] Kerri Walsh to wear black tape instead of flesh tones in Beijing.  After that, it just exploded. Everybody wanted it.”  Specifically, after the Beijing games, sales skyrocketed to 300% of what they were before and Kinesio tape has become “must use” by athletes the world over.