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)

This long exposure picture shows vehicles on roads during rush hour on the eve of the National Day holidays in Shanghai on September 30, 2014. According to local media, police checkpoints will be set up at highways, elevated roads and business hubs to tackle drunk driving during the National Day holiday. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

A woman carries a heavy load on her head while walking along the narrow Kilo ZeroKilo 30 road near Bentiu in Unity State, South Sudan, on November 6, 2025. The eroded and flood-affected road compels residents to travel long distances on foot to access supplies in Bentiu and Rubkona. (Photo by Rian Cope/AFP Photo)

A family tries to cross a flooded road amid gushing water in Kolkata, India on August 17, 2019. Heavy rain continues for a second day in Kolkata, which contuinued to flood many streets all around the city. Authorities are working overtime to clear the roads. (Photo by Debarchan Chatterjee/Zuma Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A car drives through a flooded road following heavy rain in Gaza City on December 27, 2019. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo)

A volunteer approaches a male toad to pick him up from a road near Berlin on March 18, 2012 in Gueterfelde, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A woman crosses a road outside the EU Parliament ahead of the EU elections in Brussels, Belgium, May 22, 2019. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

A father crosses a road with his twin daughters in Shanghai, China September 28, 2018. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)