Tokyo Olympics: Why Kamalpreet Kaur is wearing tape on her shoulders?

Indian discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur has already made her mark at the Tokyo Olympics by reaching the finals of the women's discus throw event.

On Monday, she takes part in the final with the hopes to be the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in athletics — a dream that hasn't been realised yet.

Kamalpreet made it to the final with a 64m throw on Saturday. Kaur and Valarie Allman (66.42) of the United States were the only two throwers to automatically qualify for the medal event.

As she takes part in the final, she is seen wearing two purple tapes on her shoulder. So what is this tape, and what is its purpose?

Not only Kaur, but many athletes sport these tapes on their body and it's not a fashion statement. These tapes are used to alleviate pain and perform better. Known as Kinesiology tape, or Kinesio tape for short, it is a flexible, cloth tape, which athletes apply on muscles that ache just to relieve pain and allow muscles to work more efficiently. There are people trained to apply the tape on the muscles in a particular way; the tape exerts a force on the muscles so they are more synchronised.

These tapes are not only used by professionals but also by amateur athletes. Currently, there are not a lot of research on how Kinesio tape actually works — but if athletes believe it helps, that in itself might be enough.

Updates: The event has been officially postponed because of rain.