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)

An young Indian Jain devotee dressed as Lord Krishna participates in a religious rally organised on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti in Kolkata on April 2, 2015. The most important religious holiday in Jainism, Mahavir Jayanti celebrates the birth of Mahavira, the last Tirthankara, which is generally accepted as 599 BCE. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)

21 year-old Chanel Tapper, with the amazing tongue and 35 year-old Aevin Dugas, with the beautiful hair was certified as world record breakers for the world’s longest tongue and the world’s biggest afro in the Guinness Book of World Records. (Photo by Guinness World Records)

Model Georgia Salpa attends the UK Premiere of “A Good Day To Die Hard” at Empire Leicester Square on February 7, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by UK Press)

A young vendor hawks food on a market in Kara in the state of Ogun, on September 23, 2015. Nigeria imposed tight movement restrictions in the restive northeast after Boko Haram bombings that killed more than 100 raised fears of fresh attacks over the Eid al-Adha festival. The military said the use of all vehicles would be banned throughout Borno state during the Muslim festival, which is known as Sallah in Nigeria and marked with two days' public holiday from Thursday. (Photo by Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP Photo)

Artist Kong Ning wears a wedding dress made from respirators to highlight concerns about air quality and pollution in Beijing, China on December 1, 2015. (Photo by Luo Xiaoguang/Xinhua Press/Corbis)

A devotee takes a holy bath at the Balaju Baise Dhara (22 water spouts) during the Baishak Asnan festival in Kathmandu April 4, 2015. Devotees believe that the water from these stone spouts, which is collected from the catchment area of the Nagarjun forest behind the spouts, will cure pains and skin diseases. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Elaine Vandiver shares a moment with a two-year old alpaca as they touch noses as she washes him at her farm at 1560 Stateline Road Monday, May 11, 2015, in Walla Walla, Wash. (Photo by Michael Lopez/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin via AP Photo)