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)

“Damien Steven Hirst (born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists (or YBAs), who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist, with his wealth valued at £215m in the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List. During the 1990s his career was closely linked with the collector Charles Saatchi, but increasing frictions came to a head in 2003 and the relationship ended”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Contractors move Damien Hirst's bronze sculpture of a pregnant woman into positionl on October 16, 2012 in Ilfracombe, England. The bronze-clad, sword-wielding 65ft (20m) statue, named “Verity”, has been controversially given to the seaside town by the artist, on a 20-year loan and was erected by crane on the pier. (Photo by Matt Cardy)

“Igor Sikorsky (May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972), born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He designed and flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the first airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914. After immigrating to the United States in 1919, Sikorsky founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923, and developed the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-conquering flying boats in the 1930s. In 1939 Sikorsky designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky would modify the design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter in 1942”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Westland Sikorsky H-5's, used by British European Airways Helicopters, which fly between London and Birmingham. The Sikorsky H-5, (aka R-5, S-51, HO3S-1, or Horse) (R-5 until 1948; company designation VS-327) is a helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, formerly used by the United States Air Force, and its predecessor, the United States Army Air Forces, as well as the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard (with the designations HO2S and HO3S). (Photo by Harrison /Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 22nd May 1951

Bottles of vintage cognac, with a royal warrant stamp, are seen in storage inside Berry Bros and Rudd wine merchants in central London, Britain, August 21, 2015. Berry Bros. & Rudd, which started as grocers over 300 years ago in St. James's, central London, has two royal warrants. Every year Queen Elizabeth grants about 20 royal warrants, the gold emblem of the British monarchy, in a practice dating back to medieval times. The warrant holders can display the certificate and use the royal coat of arms in their marketing. The warrants lasting five years can help businesses break into new markets overseas, using their role as supplier to the royal family as a gauge of quality. On September 9, Queen Elizabeth will overtake Queen Victoria as Britain's longest-serving monarch. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

Aerial view of Taxodium Distichum in full blossom at a maze area of a wetland park on January 6, 2023 in Xiamen, Fujian Province of China. (Photo by Wu Wei/VCG via Getty Images)

A participant takes part in a high heel race to protest in favor of gender equality in Monterrey, Mexico on May 12, 2019. (Photo by Daniel Becerril/Reuters)

A landscape photographer has captured a stunning picture of the Isle of Wight's iconic Needles emerging from the sea mist early February 2023. Jamie Russell captured this moment on the most western part of the island. (Photo by Jamie Russell/IslandVisionss/Bournemouth News)

A man looks at the description of a sculpture depicting 17-year-old male chimpanzee Jaska, by Gillie and Mark, in London, Tuesday, September 20, 2022. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)