A former Gurkha (special forces soldier), Nirmal Purja, takes a selfie at the start of his attempt to scale the world’s 14 highest peaks in seven months to break a 31-year-old record. Nirmal Purja, known as Nims, aims to smash the current record – which stands at seven years, 11 months and 14 days – set by Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka. On the way, he also plans to defeat at least seven speed world records on mountains over 8,000m high. (Photo by Nirmal Purja/PA Wire Press Association)

El Salvador's Elisa Funes fixes her googles during the warm-up prior to swimming finals at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, Monday, October 23, 2023. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

Heat rising from the pavement distorts the view looking east on Pennsylvania Avenue NW toward the U.S. Capitol as a heat wave intensifies across the Eastern United States on June 18, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Rio Takahashi of Japan gets ready for the final show of the Miss International Queen 2020 transgender beauty pageant in Pattaya, Thailand on March 7, 2020. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

2016 Rio Olympics, Weightlifting, Final, Women's 69kg, Riocentro, Pavilion 2, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 10, 2016. Leidy Solis (COL) of Colombia competes. (Photo by Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)

Firefighters use a rope to rescue a group of people stranded in a flooded street on July 12, 2018 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China. A strong storm has hit many parts of southwest China's Sichuan Province since Monday, causing landslides and floods in the region. (Photo by Wang Hongqiang/Chengdu Economic Daily/VCG)

Police officers detain an activist to prevent her from marching in a pride parade, which was banned by local authorities, in central Istanbul, Turkey on June 26, 2022. (Photo by Umit Bektas/Reuters)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket breaks the sound barrier as it launches the next batch of Starlink satellites (mission; Starlink 6-7), at 12:01 AM from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on Friday, July 28, 2023. (Photo by Joe Marino/UPI/Rex Features/Shutterstock)