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)

Men give bananas to monkeys gathered on the side of the road as India remains under an unprecedented lockdown over the highly contagious coronavirus (COVID-19) on April 08, 2020 in New Delhi, India. Wild animals, including monkeys, are roaming human settlements in India as people are staying indoors due to the 21-day lockdown. (Photo by Yawar Nazir/Getty Images)

A man dressed as Hindu goddess Kali, the goddess of power, performs with a burning camphor tablet on his tongue during a religious procession ahead of the “Kumbh Mela”, or Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian city of Allahabad January 6, 2013. During the festival, hundreds of thousands of Hindus take part in a religious gathering at the banks of the river Ganges. The festival is held every 12 years in different Indian cities. (Photo by Jitendra Prakash/Reuters)

A camel rider push his camel in the annual Wadi Zalaga competition between two rival Bedouin tribes in the South Sinai region, Egypt on January 10, 2023. (Photo by Celestino Arce/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Natalia Grossman of the USA competes during the women's finals of the IFSC Climbing World Cup Meiringen on April 09, 2022 in Meiringen, Switzerland. (Photo by Marco Kost/Getty Images)

Flemish Minister President Jan Jambon pictured in the Danish pavilion during the official opening of the Belgian pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale – La Biennale di Venezia, International Art Exhibition, Thursday 21 April 2022, in Venice, Italy, Thursday 21 April 2022. Belgian artist Alys will present “The Nature of the Game”, an exhibition that will reveal a selection of films and a series of paintings. (Photo by James Arthur Gekiere/Belga Mag/Belga via AFP Photo)

A protester clashes with riot police officers during a protest against the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit 2022, near the Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand on November 18, 2022. (Photo by Tanat Chayaphattharitthee/Reuters)

Wearing a mariachi hat, candidate Clara Brugada, who is running as a delegation leader under the ruling party Morena, smiles as she greets supporters on the last day of campaigning ahead of the June 6 mid-term elections, in the Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City, Wednesday, June 2, 2021. (Photo by Marco Ugarte/AP Photo)