surely afterwards, sarah attar explained with the olympics meant for her and other saudi women. >> iit really shows there is progress on its way, and that we were allowed to compete. it shows more steps are going to come and that this is just an amazing thing for women in saudi arabia. i think it can be inspiring to not give up on your dreams, because it can and will come true. >> sarah attar, who has dual u.s.-saudi citizenship, was the second saudi woman to compete in the games following wodjan shaherkani, who almost didn't get to compete until judo authorities conceded to her wearing a headscarf. saudi arabia only allowed the women to compete after the international olympic committee, or ioc, threatened to bar the whole team unless women were included. on sunday, human rights activists called on olympic organizers to ban countries that discriminate against athletes due to their gender or sexual orientation. processing of one of the ioc's official hotel in london, the activists said the committee is failing to uphold the olympic charter mandate that all competing nations refrain fr

sarah attar had the entire stadium cheering her on, even though she was dead last in her heat.dn't matter. attar was making a different kind of history-- the first saudi arabian woman ever to be allowed by her country to run in the olympics. she may have grown up in california, but she knew what it meant. >> this was just an amazing thing for women in saudi arabia. i think it can be inspiring, you know, to not give up on your dreams because it can and will come true. >> reporter: another saudi woman, wodjan shaherkani, already didn't get to compete until judo authorities allowed her to wear her head scarf. she lost in less than 90 seconds. what it means back in saudi arabia where girls aren't even allowed to take part in school sports is another martyr. the saudis may be cultural light-years away from the u.s. beach volleyball players who met in the finals but these have become the women's emancipation games. it's the first time every country has women on its team. it's a presence with a punch, the a new generation of million-dollar babies. >> you think you've done something fo

brittney reese all put on world-beating performances and a benchmark moment for woman's right, as sarah attare first woman ever to compete for saudi arabia in track and field. she was 45 seconds slower than the winner, but the crowd cheered every step. despite america's gold rush, team usa still in second spot behind china on the medal board, after day 12. but if they gave medals for the manic and enduring sub culture of olympic pin trading, oh, america would walk away with it, thanks to one man. our special olympic correspondent julie foudy found him and got a bit of schooling. >> take the same one right in there. >> no other american has brought home more metal from more olympics than don bigsby. >> 14 olympics and i can't stop. >> the undisputed king of the one olympic sport anyone can qualify for. pin trading. how many pins do you have now? >> oh, over 100,000. >> don's been hooked since the 1980 winter games in lake placid. for three decades, he's presided over the olympin collector's club. those addicted flock to the summer and winter games by the thousands, to big tents like this. >> h

. >> reporter: medals weren't the point for saudi runner sarah attar. she wrote a page in the history books. >> to have so many people supporting me is a huge honor and i can't believe i'm here. >> reporter: last in her heat in the 800 meters she was the first olympian in track and field for her nation. this is a piece of the track from track and field. it's made out of a new polymer. the organizers say even despite london's soggy weather it's designed to last at least ten years. 14 gold medals on the line today including four in track and field tonight as these london olympic games roll through evening number 12. live in london, i'm phil rogers, nbc area bay news. back to you. >>> thanks so much. a big night. >> still ahead at 5:00 the president makes a new play for female voters. >> plus is the -- >> we are looking at temperatures in the upper 90s to near 100 degrees. some of the hottest weather so far. gilroy 99. walnut creek at 96. santa rosa at 92. more potential for triple digits this week. air quality will suffer. spare the air alert in effect fo

sarah attar became the first woman runner to represent saudi arabia at the olympics. she finished last in an 800-meter heat but drew a muj cheer from the crowd. attar has dual citizenship with saudi and the u.s. and is a student at pepperdine university in california. >>> the rockies at the dodgers. eric young got things started with a bang. hitting a drive off the wall in center and racing around the bases for an inside the park homer. the dodgers led and victor -- l.a. won it 6-4. philadelphia hosts pittsburgh tonight in pre-season action. andy reid will be there four days after the death of his son. reid returned to the eagles training camp at lehigh university. his son, garrett reid, was found dead there on sunday. reid told reporters why he returned so quickly. >> you feel the strength of the team, and i felt it with my family the last couple of days. i feel it with the team. so i'm a football coach. that's what i do. i know my son wouldn't want it any other way. >> reid says the outpouring of support he received was a humbling experience. >>> when we come back o

sarah attar, she finished dead last in her qualifying heat. dead last.nd more than a half minute slower than the rest of the field. but it didn't matter shelf got a standing ovation from more than 80,000 fans. she was born in escondido in san diego. but is representing saudi arabia. she is the first ever female olympian in saudi history. her body covered, as you can see, she did not qualify but really is the symbol of the olympic spirit. >> such an honor to be here and an incredible experience running in this kind of environment. to have so many people supporting me is such a huge honor. i can't believe i'm here really. >> a standing ovation from that crowd. her father was born in saudi arabia. she was born in the san diego area. she is a dual citizen of both countries and a student at pepperdine university. some amazing stories once again coming from london. we should mention, we are coming to you from the tower of london. a bit of history here. they began constructing this in 1070. it is 2012. they began constructing this in 1070. this is where the que

not as fast just as heroic, sarah attar, the first woman from saudi arabia to compete in track and fieldnt for women's rights. the stadium roared as she finished 45 seconds behind the winner. agony of defeat came with mathias steiner, lost his balance and dropped the bar on his neck. somehow, the german heavyweight walked away waving and smiling. bill weir, abc news, london. >> for the life of me, i don't know how he walked away from that. 400-plus pounds on your neck like that. >> it is terrible to see

not as fast, but just as heroic, sarah attar became the first woman from saudi arabia to compete in olympicrack and field, a benchmark moment for women's rights. the stadium roared as she finished 45 seconds behind the winner. and the most dramatic agony of defeat moment came with matthias steiner lost his balance and dropped a 423-pound barbell on his neck. somehow, the german heavyweight walked away smiling and waving. going to be soar for awhile there. also, the italian race walker who won gold in beijing but caught doping and expelled from these games held a tearful press conference today. he said he learn how to buy and use the drugs over the internet and admitted that the guilt over not being able to tell his girlfriend and mom what he was doing actually hurt his performance, george, more than it helped. >> huh. okay, bill, thank you. that is interesting. >>> and coming up, more olympics. inside china's gold medal strategy. is this, right here, the secret to their success? people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doe

not as fast just as heroic, sarah attar, the first woman from saudi arabia to compete in track and fieldnt, the stadium roared as she finished 45 seconds behind the winner. agony of defeat came with mathias steiner, lost his balance and dropped the bar on his neck. some how the german heavyweight walked away waving and smiling. bill weir, abc news, london. >> for the life of me, i don't know how he walked away from that. 400-plus pounds on your neck like that. >> it is terrible to see. terrible to see. >> hard to watch that. >> you predicted the americans would pull ahead. >> historically china does not do as well in the latter part of the game. we are seeing that. team us acha, go women's soccer team, beat japan today. new lysol power & free has more cleaning power than bleach. how? the secret is hydrogen peroxide. it attacks tough stains and kills 99.9% of germs. new lysol power & free. powerful cleaning that's family friendly. another step forward in our mission for health. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest i

there was another kind of victory for sarah attar, the first woman ever to run in the olympics for saudi arabia, which was finally pressured to send a few women athletes to the games. she finished last in her heat and we delighted. >> well, i think it really shows that there's progress on its way and that we were allowed to compete. it shows that more steps will come and this was an amazing thing. for women in saudi arabia, i think it can be inspiring, you know, to not give up on your dreams. it can and will come true. >> for something completely different, a leap across the cultural divide to the beach volleyball gold medal game, which was an all-american, in fact an all californian event. kerri walsh jennings and misty may treanor who dominated for a decade, dominated again beating jennifer kessy and april ross. >> olympic gold. >> and it was an evening of intense rivalry on the track between the united states and jamaica. the smooth running allyson felix got her long-awaited retribution after being beaten out by jamaican campbell brown in the 200-meter sprint at the last two games. fe