First Place, Sports Photojournalist Of The Year. One of 24 photos by Patrick Smith, freelance for Getty Images: Sadie Bezzant is crushed by a sheep during the pre-rodeo entertainment of mutton busting during the Strawberry Days Rodeo in Pleasant Grove, Utah. (Photo by Patrick Smith)

Soma-Nomaoi is a festival that recreates a battle scene from more than 1,000 years ago. It is annually held for 4 days from July 22 to 25 in Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, in the eastern part of Japan. In this historical event, 600 mounted samurai in traditional Japanese armor, with long swords at their side and ancestral flagstaffs streaming from their backs, ride across open fields. Soma-Nomaoi has been designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

Photo: A young woman (C) clad in samurai costume leads other local poeple as she rides her horse during a parade at the annual Soma Nomaoi festival in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, on July 28, 2012. The traditional full-scale festival kicked off for the first time after the accident of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant following the massive earthquake and the tsunami on March 11, 2011. (Photo by Toru Yamanaka/AFP Photo)

In this undated photo provided by LittleFriendsPhoto.com via Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Kai, a 17-year-old male California sea lion at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Valejo, Calif. peers into the lens of photographer Seth Casteel, known for his “Underwater Dogs” photo series. ... (Photo by Seth Casteel/AP Photo/LittleFriendsPhoto.com via Six Flags Discovery Kingdom)

American actress Liza Koshy lies on the red carpet at the 96th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 10, 2024. (Photo by Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)

Elephant fights off hyenas to save baby. “This is the incredible moment an elephant came to the rescue of one of its babies being attacked by a pack of hyenas. The elephant is seen charging at the hyenas to ward them off its offspring. The photos were captured by American photographer Jayesh Mehta, 47, in the Savuti region of the Chobe National Park in Botswana”. Photo: The elephant is seen charging at the hyenas to ward them off its offspring. (Photo by Jayesh Mehta/Caters News)