30 of the most iconic Olympic photographs of all time by James Grebey on Jul 28, 2016, 3:15 PM Advertisement
 So far, most of the buzz around the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio has been... bad. Like, unfinished facilities and dead bodies washing up on beaches bad. However, the one thing that can always be expected from the Olympics is unexpected, soon-to-be iconic moments. In anticipation of the games, and to look back at some of the best moments they've given us in the past, Reuters' photographers picked out some of the most memorable shots they ever took. Here are 30 of the best pictures of the Olympic games, and the stories from the photographers who took them. Carl Lewis receives the first of his eventual four gold medals at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.  “At the Olympics nowadays, athletes have to wait till day’s end to receive their hard-earned medals. This is usually far from the field of their victory during evening stage productions filled with pomp and entertainment. However, back in 1984 in L.A., medals were awarded not long after the event was held when many athletes were still feeling the high emotions of their win. This was the case when I photographed Carl Lewis receiving the first of his four gold medals. Only a short time earlier Lewis had sped down the track to win the men’s 100 meters and now he stood on the medal podium. I never liked covering victory podiums straight on so I moved to the right for a better angle using a 300mm lens. After receiving their medals Lewis and Canada’s Ben Johnson turned towards me for the national anthem lining Lewis up nicely, as I had hoped, with spectators holding up U.S. flags. At this point memory fails me slightly and either just before or just after the anthem Lewis clasped his hands together and bowed his head while a disappointed Johnson with the bronze medal looked away giving me the moment I was looking for.” - Andy Clark
Ben Johnson leads the men's 100 meters final at the 1988 Games.  "The race, the first Olympic 100 meters final I would cover, was set for 1.30 p.m. on a Saturday. I was positioned on the side of the finish line. My job was to produce a picture showing how far the winner won the race by. I pre-focused my camera on lane six, Ben Johnson's lane. There was no auto focus in 1988 so in order to ensure I had a picture of him in focus, I set my camera to a spot and waited for him to run through it. The gun went off and about nine seconds later Johnson was in my viewfinder. What was unexpected was that I saw him but not anyone else. How could a runner in a 100 meters race be so far ahead?" - Gary Hershorn
American sprinter Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (a.k.a. Flo-Jo) crosses the finish line first during the 100 meter final at the 1988 Games in Seoul.  "What most people don’t know about past Olympics is us photographers had to get into position for major races like the men’s and women’s 100 meter finals 12 or more hours before the race and that we had to plan our approach, trying to anticipate what the athlete looked like and would do before, during and after the race in one meter intervals. Having covered Flo Jo at the 1987 World Track and Field Championships I knew that she ran hard all the way to the finish line but once she crossed it she would explode in emotion. In Seoul, Flo-Jo arrived with carefully painted long finger nails and in the 100 meter final, she ran a wind-assisted 10.54, beating her teammate rival Evelyn Ashford by 0.30 seconds and just as planned she exploded with emotion as she crossed the finish line." - Nick Didlick
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