A portrait of Eric Abidal of Lyon prior to the UEFA Champions League Group D match between Olympique Lyonnais and Manchester United at the Municipal de Garland Stadium on September 15, 2004 in Lyon, France.

A young man “painting” the Eiffel Tower. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 9th May 1970

1974: American boxer Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay, strikes an aggressive pose at a press conference on November 29, 1974. (Photo by Harry Dempster/Express/Getty Images); American actor Will Smith at the Royal Premiere of the film Ali in London on December 11, 2001. Smith starred as Muhammad Ali in the film. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

A man walks past an advertisement sign promoting a bank in Seoul in this September 3, 2009 file photo. South Korea is expected to release GDP dara this week. (Photo by Lee Jae-Won/Reuters)

Nine-year-old Barry Miller appears none too impressed with the movements of an African Rock Python which is exploring his scalp. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 27th August 1961

A Geminid meteor streaks diagonally across the sky against a field of star trails behind one of the peaks of the Seven Sisters rock formation in this long exposure early December 14, 2007 in the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. The meteor display, known as the Geminid meteor shower because it appears to radiate from near the star Castor in the constellation Gemini, is thought to be the result of debris cast off from an asteroid-like object called 3200 Phaethon. The shower is visible every December. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

A sculptural artwork depicting former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and headless presidents shot by a hooded high school student (not pictured) is seen at the Contemporary Art Museum in Santiago, December 2, 2014. The artwork, part of the “El ladrillo angular” (The angular brick) exhibition, portrays a student fighting against the ongoing continuity of dictatorship because of a political and economic system which has been impossible to destroy, according to “Papas Fritas” the artwork's creator. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/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)