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)

Competitors line up their boats for some formalities during the Aberdeen Dragon Boat Races. (Photo by Jessica Hromas)

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

A man makes a mud oven to be used for baking bread at a workshop in Najaf, south of Baghdad, July 23, 2015. (Photo by Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters)

A fire show lit up Mayfair on May 10, 2022 to celebrate The Ivy Asia arriving at its newest central London location. Reservations have now opened for the new dining venue in North Audley Street ahead of its launch on May 31. (Photo by Handout via PA Wire Press Association)

A caterpillar driven ferry with a 24 horsepower engine takes holidaymakers from the mainland at Bigbury in Devon to Burgh Island, a quarter of a mile away. (Photo by Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Getty Images). 4th April 1935

A cosplayer poses for photographs at the 2015 Comic Fiesta event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 31, 2015. (Photo by Olivia Harris/Reuters)

General view of a clash after the match of the Egyptian Premier League between Pyramids FC and Zamalek at the 30 June Air Defense Stadium in Cairo, Egypt on April 23, 2019. (Photo by Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)