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 girl bathes to cool off herself with water that is leaking from a broken pipe valve on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, May 18, 2015. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A tearful Beatle lover pleads unsuccessfully with a policeman to carry her fan button to Ringo, one of the four mop-top singers who drew squeals and shrieks from more than 30,000 spectators at two Indiana State Fair shows in Indianapolis on September 4, 1964. (Photo by Bob Daugherty/AP Photo)

The jewelled flower mantis, commonly found in Asia, is believed to be the inspiration for many martial artists is seen in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 2, 2016. (Photo by Prabu Dennaga/Barcroft Images)

A young girl dressed as living goddess Kumari drinks juice as she waits for Kumari Puja, a worship ritual at Hanuman Dhoka, Basantapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, September 27, 2023. Girls under the age of nine gathered for the tradition of worshiping young prepubescent girls as manifestations of the divine female energy. The ritual holds a strong religious significance in the Newar community that seeks divine blessings to save small girls from diseases and bad luck in the years to come. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Dogs and owners run during of 4k pet run “A Race with a Cause”, organized to raise funds for a shelter for rescued dogs in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, April 30, 202. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

A handout photo made available by Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation shows hot lava spewing from Mount Ibu in North Maluku province, Indonesia, 04 July 2024 (issued 05 July 2024). The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) advises the community around Mount Ibu and visitors not to carry out activities within a radius of 2.0 kilometers and a sectoral expansion of 5 kilometers towards the crater opening in the northern part of the active crater of Mount Ibu. (Photo by PVMBG/EPA)

A family poses for photos near a dinosaur exhibits along the Changi Jurassic Mile as it is light up for Christmas near Changi airport in Singapore on December 8, 2020. (Photo by Tim Chong/Reuters)