“The Amazon river has a newly discovered source. Completed last year and led by West Hansen and documented by award-winning freelance photographer Erich Schlegel, this is the first expedition to paddle from the furthest source of the earth's largest river to the ocean”. – zReportage. Photo: August 19, 2012 – Alpamarca, Peru – Amazon Express white water members Juan Antonio De Ugarte, of Peru, Rafael Ortiz, of Mexico, West Hansen, of the U.S., and Tino Specht, of the U.S., paddle down the Rio Gashan after leaving Lago Acucocha. Lago Acucocha is possibly the dry season source of the Amazon River. (Photo by Erich Schlegel/zReportage via ZUMA Press)

A competitor tries to swipe away some grease as he slips off the “gostra”, a pole covered in grease, during the celebrations for the religious feast of St Julian, patron of the town of St Julian's, outside Valletta August 30, 2015. In the traditional “gostra”, a game stretching back to the Middle Ages, young men, women and children have to make their way to the top of a pole and try to uproot one of the flags to win prizes. Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters)

Some are in it just for the money, others to help buy a meal. Then there are those who trade for fun or to spend time among friends. Millions of investors – pensioners, security guards, high-school students – dominate China's stock markets, conducting about 80 percent of all trades. Retirees gather in brokerage houses dotted around China also to enjoy some company and savour the air conditioning on hot days. Some start as young as 13, trading from home with an eye on future careers in finance. Winning isn't guaranteed. This year, among the most turbulent in China's financial history, its stock markets more than doubled in the six months to May, only to crash amid concerns that growth in the country, which makes everything from cars to steel, is slowing faster than previously thought. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Most 23-year-olds are barely scraping their way out of college debts, but not Dominik Nitsche – the youngster has dominated this year’s World Series of Poker 2014 Hold-em Competition.

Valentin Arias Delgado and Diana Franco Durango, from Colombia, perform their routine at the Stage style Tango World Championship, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 31, 2016. (Photo by Enrique Marcarian/Reuters)

The crowd is reflected in the glasses of a bearded competitor at the third annual National Beard and Moustache Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 11, 2012. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)

Natasha Cloud #0 and Diana Taurasi #3 of the Phoenix Mercury gather their team before the game against the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on June 04, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)