Bavarian farmers load their cows on a boat before they drive over the picturesque Lake Koenigssee, Germany, October 3, 2015. Before the winter season approaches the farmers have to drive their cattle down from their Alpine meadows to a narrow valley that can only be reached by boat. (Photo by Michael Dalder/Reuters)

A worker refreshes himself with a fan after loading a container with rice bags at an export plant in the central Chainat province in Thailand, December 16, 2015. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Activists stage a theatrical play where gay people are restrained by others wearing masks depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a protest against Russia's new law on gays, in central London, Saturday, August 10, 2013. Hundreds of protesters, called for the Winter 2014 Olympic Games to be taken away from Sochi, Russia, because of a new Russian law that bans “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” and imposes fines on those holding gay pride rallies. (Photo by Lefteris Pitarakis/AP Photo)

Participants take part in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade on March 02, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade began in 1978 as a march to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York and has been held every year since to promote awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. (Photo by Roni Bintang/Getty Images)

Revellers participate in the annual gay pride parade in Amsterdam, Netherlands on August 4, 2018. (Photo by Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters)

Unidentified people beat Svyatoslav Sheremet (L, bottom), head of Gay-Forum of Ukraine public organization, in Kiev, May 20, 2012. Sheremet was attacked after meeting with members of the media to inform them that a scheduled gay parade was cancelled. The attackers ran off when they realised members of the media were documenting the attack. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters)

Members of the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corps do their thing down San Francisco's Market Street, June 27, 1982. Police estimate the crowd to be 300,000 for the Lesbian/Gay Freedom Day parade and rally. (Photo by Carl Viti/AP Photo)

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)