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)

Partygoers in Cardiff, England refused to let the rain dampen their Christmas spirits on “Thirsty Thursday”, December 19, 2018. Christmas partygoers got into the party spirit last night as they headed out for some festive fun up and down the country. (Photo by Huw Evans Picture Agency)

This watering hole is the social hub of the veldt; the scrubby grasslands that stretch across Namibia. The scorched earth supports sometimes fragile populations of magnificent wildlife – from endangered predators to plentiful herds of game. But these gentle giraffes and elephants need to be careful: lions don’t sleep at night, they hunt! The spectacular starscape above southern Africa is unchanged since explorers first mapped the continent. The photographer, Pietro Olivetta from Italy, said he had to be patient to capture these shots – but it was worth the wait. (Photo by Pietro Olivetta/Caters News)

American students going wild during their Spring Break week-long recess in Cancun, Mexico on March 10, 2007. (Photo by Keystone USA/ZUMA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Sport category, winner: Yuan Peng. Liu Bingqing and Liu Yujie are twin sisters who have studied and trained in gymnastics since their early childhood in Jining, China. (Photo by Yuan Peng/Sony World Photography Awards)

Marine researcher Tomasz Furmanek, 44, from Bøjarnesveien, Norway, takes stunning images while kayaking through various fjords and lakes in the Scandinavian country. During Tomasz’s free time, he works as a freelance photographer traveling around the lakes, fjords and coastal regions of the beautiful country – and capturing breathtaking photographs. Here: Hardangerfjorden, near Ullensvang. (Photo by Thomasz Furmanek/Caters News Agency)

An aurora is seen in the sky in Pajala, Sweden on February 10, 2022. (Photo by Alexander Kuznetsov/Reuters)

Women pose for a selfie in a lavender field at Hitchin Lavender farm in Ickleford, Britain, August 4, 2020. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Reuters)