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)

Dancers perform a routine at the Renault display at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing, Tuesday, April 26, 2016. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

Fisherwomen laying barrels with salt in preparation for herring curing, 1937. (Photo by Topical Press Agency)

A woman crosses an open sewer as she makes her way to her house in a Christian slum in Islamabad December 4, 2014. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

Maya, 8, and Kishore, 13, pose for a wedding photo inside their new home, the day after the Hindu holy day of Akshaya Tritiya, called Akha Teej in North India. Despite legislation forbidding child marriage in India (Child Marriage Restraint Act-1929) and the much more progressive Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (2006) and many initiatives to prevent child marriage, marrying children off at a very tender age continues to be accepted by large sections of society. (Photo by Stephanie Sinclair/VII Photo Agency)

The 26th annual Visa Pour l’Image, the “Cannes Film Festival” of photojournalism kicks off, filling the French city of Perpignan with more than 3,000 of the world’s best photojournalists and photo editors, along with agencies from around the world. This year’s Visa Pour l’Image showcases 26 exhibitions around the city. Photo: Christians looting a Muslim shop in the “Combattants” district of Bangui. (Photo by Pierre Terdjman/Paris Match)

Japanese college students look at cheerleaders during a job-hunting rally in Tokyo January 29, 2014. According to the rally organizers, about 1,500 students from vocational schools attend the rally to boost their morale ahead of their job hunt. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

Dancers perform on stage during Diwali celebrations in Leicester, Britain November 11, 2015. (Photo by Darren Staples/Reuters)