Triathletes swim during an Ironman event in Taupō, New Zealand, on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

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)

Yuliya Levchenko, of Ukraine, celebrates during qualifying for the women's high jump at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. (Photo by Ashley Landis/AP Photo)

Nora Mork of Norway celebrates scoring a goal during the women's bronze medal handball match between Norway and Sweden of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo on August 8, 2021. (Photo by Susana Vera/Reuters)

Italy's Arianna Valcepina falls during the women's 500 m qualifying race at the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup in Gdansk, Poland, 16 February 2024. (Photo by Adam Warzawa/EPA)

In this picture taken on October 27, 2019 lightening strikes on a building during a thunderstorm in Bangkok. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

The sun rises over the north sea as The Couple by artist Sean Henery sits just of the coast at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, England, Wednesday October 8, 2014. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/AP Photo/PA Wire)

Beatriz Hatz, of the U.S., competes at Women's Long Jump -T64 final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Saturday, August 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)