Production begins on the London 2012 victory medals at the Royal Mint on October 27, 2011 in Pontyclun, Wales. A total of 4700 medals will be made, split between the Olympics and Paralympics. Each medal, 85mm in diameter are the heaviest summer Olympic medals made and production will be completed by Spring 2012. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Hannah Prock, of Austria, prepares to start the luge women's singles run 1 at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, February 7, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A diving competitor during a practice session at Tokyo Aquatics Centre ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

Yndiara Asp of Brazil takes part in a women's Park Skateboarding training session at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 31, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

South Korean youths dance to electronic music during the Ultra Music Festival Korea at Olympic Stadium on June 10, 2016 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Jean Chung/Getty Images)

“A snapshot from mountaineer's life”. Have you ever wondered how does a mountaineer's day start? I will give you a hint: you wake up at 3 am, set the stove, wake up your partner, pretend it is warm, quickly consume a high-calorie breakfast, watch your friends slowly ascending the icy slopes of your dream summit with their tiny head torches glimmering against perfectly blue ice, and hope for the good weather. One would ask: why all this trouble? The answer is easy: for the love of the adventure and the unknown. Location: Chamonix, Haute Savoye, France. (Photo and caption by Kamil Tamiola/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Garbage pickers collect ride on donkey cart while looking for recyclable materials at a rubbish dump in the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, August 23, 2016. Despite its huge untapped oil and gas reserves and steadily rising oil output and revenue, 23 percent of the population live below the poverty line, according to the Ministry of Planning. (Photo by Khalid al Mousily/Reuters)

American swimmer Lydia Jacoby poses for a portrait during the Team USA media summit ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, at an event in New York, U.S., April 17, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)