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)

Ukrainians jump over a bonfire in Kiev, Ukraine, 06 July 2019, as they celebrate the traditional pagan holiday of Ivana Kupala. Ivana Kupala is celebrated, during the summer solstice, on the shortest night of the year, marking the beginning of summer and is celebrated in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Russia. People sing and dance around bonfires, play games and perform traditional rituals. Young people jump over bonfires in order to test their bravery. Couples holding hands jump over the flames to test their love. If the couple does not succeed it is predicted to split up. Traditionally, children and young unmarried women wear wreaths of wild flowers on their heads to symbolize purity. (Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA/EFE)

WOOTTON, UNITED KINGDOM - APRIL 07: Hot air balloons prepare to depart from Lydden Hill race circuit near Canterbury to take part in mass crossing of the Channel on April 7, 2011 in Wootton, England. 51 balloonists of various nationalities from across Europe took off from Kent making for Calais, France at about 7am. It is the first time a Guinness World Record bid has been made for "the largest group of hot air balloons to make the Channel crossing". (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

(R-L) Jean-Jacques Cattier and his son Alexandre Cattier pose with the world largest bottle of Champagne “The Midas” by Armand de Brignac on April 6, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. The Midas is a massive 30-liter vessel and weights exactly 100 pounds. It's like having 40 pieces of the 750ml in one. Number one champagne brand in the world, Armand de Brignac is the luxury Champagne from the award-winning Champagne Cattier chateau of Chigny-les-Roses, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Sushi chef Mitsuru Tamura uses a radiation detector on seafood before it is prepared in Manhattan's Sushi Yasuda restaurant April 8, 2011 in New York City. The restaurant has begun using the detector as a precautionary measure due to consumer concerns over possible radiation contamination in seafood from the nuclear emergency in Japan. Health officials believe contamination is unlikely to threaten the food supply chain and none has been found in this restaurant. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Canadian-Israeli film director Simcha Jacobovici holds two nails during a press conference on April 12, 2011. Jacobovici believes that the two nails discovered in a Jerusalem cave were used in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jacobovici claims that the nails were tracked to an archeology laboratory in Tel Aviv, and though cannot be 100 per cent certain that they are the nails used in the crucifixion of Jesus, he claims if “you put two and two together and they seem to imply that these are the nails”. Experts at the Israel Antiquities Authority though cast doubt on Jacobovici's claims, and suggest that nails are commonly found in such locations. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

In this handout image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), model runs from the Center for Tsunami Research at the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory show the expected wave heights of the tsunami as it travels across the Pacific basin March 11, 2011. The largest wave heights are expected near the earthquake epicenter, off Japan. The wave will decrease in height as it travels across the deep Pacific but grow taller as it nears coastal areas. In general, as the energy of the wave decreases with distance, the near shore heights will also decrease (e.g., coastal Hawaii will not expect heights of that encountered in coastal Japan). (Photo by NOAA via Getty Images)

A Galapagos Tortoise shell is used as a foot rest at Heathrow Airport's Animal Reception Centre on January 25, 2011 in London, England. Many animals pass through the centre's doors ranging from exotic animals such as snow leopards and elephants, snakes and crocodiles, to the more common such as cats and dogs. In 2010 alone the centre processed approximately 10,500 cats and dogs, 1,300 birds, 105,000 day old chicks, 246,000 reptiles, 230 horses and 29 million fish. Most animals are part of zoo transfer schemes, the pet trade, or are pets in transit. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)