The Austrian Olympic Committee (German: Österreichisches Olympisches Comité, ÖOC) confirmed a squad of 71 athletes, 37 men and 34 women, to compete across 22 sports at the Games.

The Austrian roster featured 29 returning Olympians, with Chinese-born table tennis player Liu Jia, the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony, leading them as the only competitor going to her fifth consecutive Games.

Apart from Liu, judoka and Beijing 2008 silver medalist Ludwig Paischer, dressage rider Victoria Max-Theurer, and skiff duo Nico Delle-Karth and Nikolaus Resch in the 49er class also topped the roster lineup to make their fourth Olympic appearance.

Other notable Austrian athletes included world-ranked sailor Lara Vadlau and her Polish-born partner Jolanta Ogar in the women's 470, London 2012 sixth-place finalist Corinna Kuhnle in slalom kayaking, and twin sisters Anna-Maria and Eirini Alexandri.

Austria left Rio de Janeiro with only a bronze medal, won by sailing duo of Thomas Zajac and Tanja Frank in the Nacra 17 class, avoiding an empty-handed return as had happened at the previous London 2012 Olympics.

[1][2] Slalom canoeist Corinna Kuhnle, rifle shooter Olivia Hofmann, discus thrower Lukas Weißhaidinger, and rower Magdalena Lobnig (sixth, women's single sculls) were among the Austrian athletes progressing to the finals of their respective sporting events, but came closest to the nation's medal haul.

[8] Laurence Baldauff qualified for the women's individual recurve by obtaining one of the eight Olympic places available from the 2015 World Archery Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Obernosterer competed in group E of the men's singles event together with Lin Dan, Vladimir Malkov, and Nguyễn Tiến Minh.

[26] London 2012 sixth-place finalist Corinna Kuhnle (women's K-1) and rookie Mario Leitner (men's K-1) were named to the Austrian roster on 20 June 2016.

[33][34] Austria has received a spare berths from the International Canoe Federation to enter two boats each in the women's K-1 200 m and the women's K-2 500 m to the Olympics, as the next highest-ranked nation, not yet qualified, at the 2015 Canoe Sprint World Championships, and as a response to the forfeiture of five boats held by the Russians due to their previous doping bans and their implications in the "disappearing positive methodology" set out in the McClaren Report on Russia's state-sponsored doping.

[35] Two-time Olympic kayakers Yvonne Schuring and Viktoria Schwarz, along with rookie Ana Roxana Lehaci, were named to the Austrian roster on 27 July 2016.

[45] One additional spot was awarded to the Austrian cyclist in the women's road race by virtue of her top 100 individual placement in the 2016 UCI World Rankings.

[47] Stefan Denifl and Georg Preidler both competed in the men's individual road race, with the former failing to finish and the latter placing 44th with a time of 6:29.42.

[49] Martina Ritter, who won the Austrian National Time Trial Championships two months earlier, competed in the women's individual road race.

[60] Austria entered one equestrian into the competition by virtue of a top two finish from South Western Europe in the individual FEI Olympic rankings.

[69] René Pranz had claimed his Olympic spot as the sole winner of the men's foil at the European Zonal Qualifier in Prague, Czech Republic.

317) qualified directly among the top 60 eligible players for their respective individual events based on the IGF World Rankings as of 11 July 2016.

In the finals, Lobnig finished in last place after 7:34.86 minutes, 13.32 seconds behind Australian winner Kim Brennan, but still achieving Austria's best Olympic rowing performance since 1996.

[110][117] M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race Austrian shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 and 2015 ISSF World Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by 31 March 2016.

[122] Austria has fielded a squad of two synchronized swimmers to compete only in the women's duet by virtue of their sixth-place finish at the FINA Olympic test event in Rio de Janeiro.

Chinese-born Liu Jia secured one of ten available Olympic spots in the women's singles by winning the group final match at the European Qualification Tournament in Halmstad, Sweden.

[127] Meanwhile, Sofia Polcanova, Stefan Fegerl, and London 2012 Olympian Robert Gardos were automatically selected among the top 22 eligible players each in their respective singles events based on the ITTF Olympic Rankings.

[128] Daniel Habesohn and Beijing 2008 Olympian Li Qiangbing were each awarded the third spot to build the men's and women's teams for the Games by virtue of a top 10 national finish in the ITTF Olympic Rankings.

Oliver Marach and Alexander Peya had claimed one of eight ITF Olympic men's doubles places, as Austria's top-ranked tennis pair outside of direct qualifying position in the ATP World Rankings as of 6 June 2016.

Sara Vilic and London 2012 Olympian Lisa Perterer were ranked among the top 40 eligible triathletes in the women's event based on the ITU Olympic Qualification List as of 15 May 2016.

Meanwhile, Thomas Springer was selected as the highest-ranked triathlete from Europe in the men's event based on the ITU Points List.

[134][135] Austria has received an unused quota place from IWF to send a male weightlifter to the Olympics, signifying the nation's return to the sport for the first time since 2004.

[139][140] Austria received a spare host berth freed up by Brazil as the next highest-ranked eligible nation, not yet qualified, to send a wrestler competing in the men's Greco-Roman 85 kg to the Olympics, based on the results from the World Championships.

[141][142] Thomas Reichenauer, the president of the Austrian Wrestling Association nominated Amer Hrustanović, who previously competed in the 2012 London Olympics, citing his hard work in recent years.

[142] Hrustanović beat Finn Rami Hietaniemi in the round of 16 before losing to eventual bronze medal winner Javid Hamzatau in the quarterfinals, finishing tenth overall.