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)

Mohammed El-Dahshan, 38-year-old “Mesaharati”, or dawn caller, accompanies his donkey wrapped with colored led lights to wake Muslims up for a meal before sunrise, during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in the Delta city of Dikernis, about 93 miles (150 km) North of Cairo, Egypt early Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Each night, El-Dahshan, sets out after midnight with his donkey banging his drum, chanting traditional religious phrases and calling out on residents by name to wake them in time for the vital pre-dawn meal known as “Suhour”. (Photo by Amr Nabil/AP Photo)

Performers Roni, Liv and Becky behind the scenes at Great Yarmouth Hippodrome Circus, England. (Photo by Nick Warner/The Guardian)

Tarah Kayne and Daniel O'Shea of the U.S. perform during the Pairs short program at the Skate America figure skating competition in Milwaukee, Wisconsin October 23, 2015. Fifty-six Olympic and world championship athletes are competing in the event, which is the first of six stops on the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

American actress Nicola Peltz poses on the red carpet as she arrives for the world premiere of the movie “Transformers 4: Age of Extinction” in Hong Kong Thursday, June 19, 2014. The latest installment in the blockbuster series of “Transformers” films is making its world premier not in the usual entertainment hubs of Los Angeles or New York but in the wealthy Chinese metropolis of Hong Kong, the latest sign of Hollywood's increasing focus on China's booming film market. (Photo by Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

A model showcases designs by Denny Wirawan during the East Java Fashion Harmony show at Segara Wedi Batok Mount Bromo on December 03, 2022 in Probolinggo, Java, Indonesia. (Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images)

A ballet dancer practices in the sunshine at the Southbank skatepark in London on Monday, September 17, 2018, as Storm Helene is due to bring unseasonably warm weather in London and the south east, as the low pressure draws up warm air from the south. Forecasters have downgraded warnings that Helene could pose a risk to life when it hits this week – but warned coastal communities to stay vigilant. (Photo by Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire)

Steam rises from Lake Superior as the ship St. Clair comes to harbor during some of the coldest temps of the year, Sunday, December 31, 2017, at Canal Park in Duluth, Minn. The St. Clair is a self-unloader built in 1976 at Sturgeon Bay, Wis., and is 770 feet long and has 26 hatches that open into 5 cargo holds, providing a load capacity of 45,000 tons. (Photo by David Joles/Star Tribune via AP Photo)