Neil Leifer spent a year traversing the globe to photograph athletes for TIME’s 1984 Olympics special issue. From the plains of Kenya to Russia’s Red Square to The Great Wall of China, Leifer used grand backdrops to photograph the athletic stars of the day.
Afghan boxer Sadaf Rahimi’s path to London has ended after the International Boxing Association decided on July 18 that she could not compete, citing concerns that boxing against opponents of much higher standards might threaten her safety in the ring.
From America’s worst drought in 50 years and fierce fighting in Syria to the shootings in Colorado and the start of Ramadan, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week.
Olympic medalists from the 1948 games in London remember their experiences in the post-war ‘austerity’ Olympics. Even with a tiny budget and a war-worn country, the athletes managed to have a good time.
In his portrait series of gold-medal hopefuls for TIME’s 2012 Olympics special issue, Martin Schoeller shows three U.S. team members—gymnast Gabby Douglas, runner Lolo Jones and swimmer Ryan Lochte—whose passion for sport isn’t contained by training center walls.
This is where every girl who wants to be an elite gymnast must come, at some point in her career, to pay tithings, in the form of blood, sweat, and often tears, to Martha Karolyi.
From South Sudan’s refugee crisis and Spain’s historic Euro 2012 win to the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team trials and a polar bear cub’s piggyback, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week.
From Memorial Day observances in the United States and an exchange of bodies in the West Bank to the massacre in Syria and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in England, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week.
From violence in Colombia and a huge fire in Manila to soccer championships across Europe and the presidential handover ceremony in France, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week.
From violence in Cairo and France’s presidential elections to flash floods in Nepal and the 138th Kentucky Derby, TIME’s photo department presents the best images of the week.
