The 17th Ibero-American Championships in Athletics were held at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between May 14-16, 2016.

Since the event served also as the athletics event test for the 2016 Summer Olympics, countries that do not compete at Ibero-American Championships attended the event, including United States, Saudi Arabia and Australia.

[1] A total of 44 events were contested, 22 by men and 22 by women.

*   Host nation (Brazil)According to an unofficial count, 355 athletes from 28 countries participated, including five guest nations (*).

Missing Ibero-American countries were Andorra, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and São Tomé and Príncipe.