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 fan looks at the Germany flag before the 2014 World Cup final between Germany and Argentina at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro July 13, 2014. (Photo by Darren Staples/Reuters)

A model gets ready backstage during the Tbilisi Fashion Week in Tbilisi, Georgia, on October 27, 2017. The presentation of the Spring/Summer 2018 collections runs from 27 to 30 October. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

Revellers take part in the Els Enfarinats festival, in the town of Ibi near Alicante, Spain, Tuesday December 28, 2021. For about 200-years the inhabitants of Ibi annually celebrate with a battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers, outside the city town hall. (Photo by Alberto Saiz/AP Photo)

Vitoria Bueno, a 16-year-old dancer whose genetic condition left her without arms, poses for a picture in her neighborhood in Santa Rita do Sapucai, Brazil, February 7, 2021. (Photo by Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

Float builder Andrea works on a float which depicts Russia's President Vladimir Putin as warmonger, at the float hall of the Mainz Carnival Association (MCV), in Mainz, Germany, 02 February 2016. The MCV invited journalists to a preview of this year's floats for the upcoming Shrove Monday carnival parade. The main carnival season festivities will happen around Rose Monday on 08 February. (Photo by Fredrik von Erichsen/EPA)

Professional dancer Sandy Lewis, from Louisiana, performs with his dance partner Marti Gasol, as they train in the street due to restrictions to do it indoor, in Barcelona on Wednesday, November 11, 2020 as Spain continue with new measures against the COVID-19. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)

People take photos of hotel room lights shaping the word “Zero”, referring to Covid-19 cases, in Taipei, Taiwan, 17 April 2020. According to news reports Taiwan records no new COVID-19 cases for third time this week. Medical experts are rushing to develop a vaccine for the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and advising people to practice social distancing and proper hygiene. (Photo by David Chang/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)