Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France perform during the ice dance skating event at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating final in Barcelona December 13, 2014. (Photo by Albert Gea/Reuters)

Poland's Piotr Lisek reacts after competing in the men's pole vault qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on July 31, 2021. (Photo by Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters)

Tara Davis-Woodhall of Team United States competes during the Women's Long Jump Final on day two of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 2025 at National Stadium on September 14, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

荻野目洋子 (Yōko Oginome) – ダンシング・ヒーロー (Dancing Hero (Eat You Up)) New Dance Version

China's Gu Ailing Eileen waits to see her score as she competes in the freestyle skiing women's freeski slopestyle final run during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Genting Snow Park H & S Stadium in Zhangjiakou on February 15, 2022. (Photo by Marco Bertorello/AFP Photo)

Sofia Evangelia Malkogeorgou and Evangelia Platanioti of Greece perform in the duet technical routine of the artistic swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 9, 2024. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

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)