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)

A general view shows smoke and volcanic ashes billowing from volcano Cotopaxi in Pedregal, Ecuador, late 07 October 2015. (Photo by Jose Jacome/EPA)

The Euro sculpture is partially reflected in a puddle on a cobblestone pavement in front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt on Jan. 21. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

Children play in their grandmother's garden in a suburb of Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, July 21, 2022. Hungary has experienced several heat waves since mid June with day-time temperatures rising to 40 degrees Celsius and remaining at tropical levels through the night. In fact, the country recently shattered record for its hottest night ever when temperature of 25.4 C was measured in Budapest on July 26. (Photo by Anna Szilagyi/AP Photo)

EMT Christian Amoroso, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), pauses while unloading COVID-19 patients at the Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield Campus on April 06, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. A specialized bus known as a Medical Evacuation Transport Unit (METU), caries infected patients on stretchers and benches between hospitals. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

In this file photo taken on Sunday, August 2, 2020, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, candidate for the presidential elections greets people waving old Belarus flags during a meeting to show her support, in Brest, 326 km (203,7 miles) southwest of Minsk, Belarus. Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko faces a perfect storm as he seeks a sixth term in the election held Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020 after 26 years in office. Mounting public discontent over the worsening economy and his government’s bungled handling of the coronavirus pandemic has fueled the largest opposition rallies since the Soviet collapse. (Photo by Sergei Grits/AP Photo)

A string is used to ensure that the skirts of female members of the honour guard are in the same height from the ground as they prepare for a welcoming ceremony for Congo Republic President Denis Sassou Nguesso outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, July 5, 2016. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Revellers chat on Havana's Malecon seafront before performing at a carnival parade, Cuba, August 12, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)