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)

Members of the staff wait for the start of the maiden press conference for China's all-girl “boyband” FFC-Acrush in Beijing, China April 28, 2017. Picture taken April, 28, 2017. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Contestants congratulate Chelsea Morgensen (R) of Hollywood, California as she is crowned Miss Hooters International 2017 during the 21st Annual Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant at The Pearl concert theater at Palms Casino Resort on July 12, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

A protester jumps on the table in front of the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi during a news conference in Frankfurt, Germany April 15, 2015. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

A man exercises in the early morning on a hilltop overlooking Kabul, Afghanistan March 3, 2016. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

Cast member Bryce Dallas Howard poses at the premiere of the movie “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 12, 2018. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

A reveller perches on a public hire bicycle outside a bar in Shoreditch, the weekend before new licensing rules come in to effect across Hackney on July 28, 2018 in London, England. Hackney Council has voted to introduce strict new licensing rules which will see “core” curfews in place for new venues as well as extending the “Special Policy Area”, within which licenses are granted only in exceptional circumstances. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Undated handout photo of members of Ballet Ireland during a photocall on Edinburgh's Calton Hill before taking part in the Edinburgh Festival 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Issue date: Tuesday, August 7, 2018. (Photo by Julie Howden/Culture Ireland/PA Wire)