Two German archers qualified for both the men's and women's individual recurve by obtaining one of the eight Olympic places available from the 2015 World Archery Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

[8][9] On 31 May 2016, six marathon runners (three per gender), highlighted by London 2012 Olympian Arne Gabius, were the first batch of German track and field athletes to be selected to the Olympic roster.

Notable German athletes featured reigning Olympic discus throw champion Robert Harting and his younger brother Christoph, shot put runner-up David Storl, hammer thrower Betty Heidler, pole vaulter Raphael Holzdeppe, Worlds medalists Rico Freimuth, Gesa Felicitas Krause and Christina Schwanitz, and javelin thrower and current world leader Thomas Röhler.

[15][16] Light heavyweight boxer Serge Michel had claimed an Olympic spot with his quarterfinal triumph at the 2016 AIBA World Qualifying Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan.

[17] Hamza Touba and Arajik Marutjan rounded out the German roster by virtue of their top two finish at the 2016 APB and WSB Olympic Qualifier in Vargas, Venezuela.

The mountain biking team was named to the Olympic roster on 13 June 2016, with three-time medalist Sabine Spitz riding in the cross-country race at her fifth straight Games.

A total of eight divers (four per gender), highlighted by Beijing 2008 silver medalists Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein in men's synchronized platform, were named as part of the second batch of nominated German athletes to the Olympic roster on 28 June 2016.

Max Hartung and Matyas Szabo (both in men's sabre), along with Carolin Golubytskyi in the women's foil, had claimed their Olympic spots on the German team by finishing among the top 14 individuals in the FIE Adjusted Official Rankings.

[36] Head coach: Jamilon Mülders Reserves Key: Germany's men's football team qualified for the Olympics by reaching the semifinals at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the Czech Republic.

[61][62] The men's and women's artistic gymnastics squads, highlighted by London 2012 silver medalists Marcel Nguyen and three-time Olympian Fabian Hambüchen, were named at the completion of two German Olympic selection trial meets on 10 July 2016.

[65] Germany has qualified one gymnast in the women's trampoline by virtue of a top six finish at the 2016 Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.

[72] Patrick Dogue and Christian Zillekens granted their invitations from UIPM to compete in the men's event, as three of the next highest-ranked eligible modern pentathletes, not yet qualified, in the World Rankings.

Majority of rowing crews had confirmed Olympic places for their boats at the 2015 FISA World Championships in Lac d'Aiguebelette, France, while the rowers competing in men's lightweight four were further added to the German roster with their top two finish at the 2016 European & Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.

[75] The 470 crews (Gerz & Szymanski and Bochmann & Steinherr) had claimed their Olympic spots at the European Championships, while Laser sailor Philipp Buhl rounded out the German selection at the ISAF World Cup meet in Hyères, France.

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

[76] The rifle and pistol shooting team was announced at the Munich leg of the ISSF World Cup series on 24 May 2016, featuring European Games champion Henri Junghänel, three-time Olympian Barbara Engleder, and Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Christian Reitz.

Europe's top table tennis player Dimitrij Ovtcharov secured the outright Olympic berth by winning the men's singles title at the 2015 European Games.

Meanwhile, four-time Olympian Timo Boll, along with Han Ying and Petrissa Solja, took the remaining spots at the European Qualification Tournament in Halmstad, Sweden.

[84][85] Bastian Steger and Chinese-born Shan Xiaona were each awarded the third spot to build the men's and women's teams for the Games as the top European nation in the ITTF Olympic Rankings.

2008 Olympian Levent Tuncat and Tahir Güleç qualified automatically for their respective weight classes by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings.

[87] Rabia Gülec secured a third spot on the German team by virtue of her finish in the women's welterweight category (67 kg) at the 2016 European Qualification Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.

Jamaican-born Dustin Brown and Jan-Lennard Struff had also claimed two of six ITF Olympic men's singles places to join Zverev and Kohlschreiber, as Germany's top-ranked tennis players outside of direct qualifying position.

London 2012 Olympian Anne Haug and rookie Laura Lindemann were ranked among the top 40 eligible triathletes based on the ITU Olympic Qualification List as of 15 May 2016.

German weightlifters have qualified four men's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships.