The Rio de Janeiro Olympics kick off on August 5 for some two weeks of competitive games drawing athletes as well as audiences from around the world. As they prepare to cover the event, Reuters photographers look back on their favourite pictures from past Olympics where they captured the action on the ground as well as the participants' tears and joy that followed. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Praia du Forte, Bahia. “This was the lead picture for a National Geographic story on Bahia, because it was both mysterious as well as a “geography” picture showing where the slaves arrived from Nigeria. Beach pictures seem like they should be easy to take, but for me they are actually quite difficult. Too easy to fall into cliche. When I saw the kid coming on the horse, I quickly ran to see if I could make something with a woman in a bikini that was not a bikini shot”. (Photo by David Alan Harvey/The Guardian)

Mary Hickey poses with her collection of dolls at her home in Ashbourne, Ireland October 9, 2013. Hickey has been collecting the dolls for over thirty years and now owns over 420 dolls. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Abbey Clancy attends Lifetime's launch of Britain's Next Top Model airing tonight at 9pm on Lifetime on March 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by PA Wire)

Model Ashley Graham is seen walking in Soho on May 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images)

Jeepneys are seen as an enforcer manages traffic at a busy street in Manila on May 30, 2017. Jeepneys, once hailed as the “King of the Road” and a cultural symbol in the Phillipines to rival New York's yellow taxis, may soon disappear from Manila's gridlocked streets, as authorities move to phase out the Philippines' iconic World War II-era minibuses, citing pollution and safety concerns. (Photo by Noel Celis/AFP Photo)

Looters scramble in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Sunday September 10, 1995 for goods in the Ram's department store, which contained mostly food and liquor. No attempts are currently being made by Dutch troops on the island to stop the looting, since few relief supplies have arrived in St. Maarten, which was ravaged on Tuesday by Hurricane Luis. (Photo by John McConnico/AP Photo)

Residents with faces covered in ash ride on a motorcycle as Mount Sinabung volcano erupts, in Sukandebi village in Karo Regency, Indonesia's North Sumatra province, Indonesia June 13, 2015, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Rony Muharrman/Reuters/Antara Foto)