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)

Shanea Tonkin of Team Australia celebrates with team mates after scoring their sides first goal during Women - Pool B match between Australia and Scotland on day six of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at University of Birmingham Hockey & Squash Centre on August 03, 2022 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)

Floodwaters cover a Buddhastatue of at Wat Taku Buddhist temple in Bang Ban district in the central Thai province of Ayutthaya on November 14, 2025. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP Photo)

A dancer performs during the Gymnastics Rio Gala on Day 12 of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games on August 17, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Iryna Kindzerska of Azerdbaidjan reacts after defeating Shiyan Xu of China during the Women +78 kg Contest for Bronze Medal A contest at the Judo events of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo, Japan, 30 July 2021. (Photo by Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA/EFE)

“The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin. The 1940 Games had been scheduled for Tokyo, and then Helsinki; the 1944 Games had been provisionally planned for London. This was the second occasion that London had hosted the Olympic Games, the city had previously been the venue in 1908”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The Olympic torch passes through Windsor on its way to Wembley, for the start of the Summer Olympics, 29th July 1948. (Photo by Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images)

Marc Berthod of Switzerland during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men's Super Combined on February 12, 2012 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Vianney Thibaut/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)

A woman peels potatoes for sale at a market located along a railway line in West Jakarta, Indonesia March 1, 2016. (Photo by Garry Lotulung/Reuters)