[1] Track and field events were held at João Havelange Olympic Stadium, while the race walks and marathon start and finish in Pontal Beach in the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighbourhood and the Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí, respectively.

[8] On the first day, the first gold medal was won by Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia, who broke a long-standing world record in the women's 10,000 metres by almost fifteen seconds.

Farah had been one of three gold medallists for Great Britain on a "Super Saturday" for the host nation at the 2012 London Games, but the two others of that day did not prevail in Rio de Janeiro.

Jessica Ennis entered as favourite for the Olympic heptathlon but was runner-up to Belgian Nafissatou Thiam in an upset which saw the 21-year-old add over three hundred points to her personal best score.

Defending Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford was reduced to third place as American Jeff Henderson won the closely fought men's competition.

Another defending champion was dethroned in the women's 100 metres: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's attempt to become the first person to win three straight Olympic track titles was thwarted by Jamaican teammate Elaine Thompson.

Another record was in sight for Ruth Jebet in the women's 3000 metres steeplechase, though she missed the mark by a second after slowing to celebrate winning Bahrain's first Olympic gold in any sport.

[14][15][16] On the fifth morning, Croatia's Sandra Perković became the only woman to defend an individual Olympic athletics title that year, topping the discus podium.

The United States was less successful in the men's 110 metres hurdles: its athletes failed to gain a medal for the first time ever (bar the 1980 boycott) while Jamaican Omar McLeod won by over a tenth of a second.

Tianna Bartoletta beat the favourite in the women's long jump, clearing a personal best of 7.17 m in the second to last round to leave her American rival Brittney Reese with a silver medal.

Americans also occupied the top spots in the women's 100 metres hurdles with Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin forming the first ever Olympic medal sweep by a nation in that event.

The 100 m gold medallist Elaine Thompson completed a sprint double for Jamaica by defeating Dutch athlete Dafne Schippers in the women's 200 metres final.

High-profile eliminations came in the men's qualifiers as two strong contenders for Olympic titles, Paweł Fajdek in the hammer and Justin Gatlin in the 200 m, failed to progress.

[19] The 400 metres hurdles finals were contested on day seven: Kerron Clement won the United States's 19th men's title and in contrast Dalilah Muhammad became the first American female winner.

[20] The women's javelin throw had an unexpected winner in Croatia's Sara Kolak, whose winning mark of 66.18 m (217 ft 1+1⁄2 in) meant the 21-year-old had improved her best by over eight metres that year.

The women's 4 × 100 metres relay heats featured the first ever re-run – Brazil has obstructed the American baton handover and the United States were allowed a solo run to qualify for the final on time, which they did.

Vivian Cheruiyot achieved a first for her country in the women's 5000 metres by outrunning 10,000 m champion Almaz Ayana to take Kenya's first ever gold in the distance event.

The American women overcame their qualification troubles by winning from uncomfortable lane one, making Allyson Felix the most successful female Olympian in athletics at five gold medals.

In the women's high jump, Ruth Beitia became Spain's inaugural female Olympic gold medalist in athletics, though this was overshadowed by the fact her winning mark was the lowest since 1980 and she was outperformed by two heptathletes in Rio.

[31] The members of Russia's 68-strong team were allowed to appeal the ban and compete under a neutral flag if they could present evidence that they did not have links with the doping scandal and received testing independent of the Russian national anti-doping body.

[32][33] The situation led pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, one of Russia's top athletes, to announce her intention to stand for ARAF President to resolve the crisis.

Her husband and coach Vitaly Stepanov, who also acted as whistleblower, said that the decision sent "a message that the World Anti-Doping Code and the values of Olympism are merely words on a page".

The team were the winners of their heat but were disqualified as a track side judge noted that part of Matthew Hudson-Smith's foot was outside of red-marked baton change over zone when he started his run.

[42] In the men's steeplechase, the original bronze medallist Ezekiel Kemboi saw disqualification for narrowly stepping over the track line after being bunched out at the water jump.

Kemboi had announced his retirement upon finishing third, but after the disqualification change his mind to seek to rectify the matter, saying "I have to bring back this medal not by protesting again but right on track.