The Kiribati delegation consisted of three athletes: sprinter Lataisi Mwea, judoka Kinaua Biribo, and weightlifter Ruben Katoatau.

[3] A coordination with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) of Nauru, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu, and Nauru Airlines, used the airline to charter two flights with four national delegations, namely: Nauru, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu, with a technical stop in Chuuk State of the Federated States of Micronesia, for travel to Tokyo due to precautions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

[4] Two athletes, namely: Lataisi Mwea and Kinaua Biribo, and coach Leanne Hines were the only people in the Kiribati delegation to not take part in the IOC chartered flight.

[‡ 1] Kiribati decided to send only athletes who have been abroad throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, amid fears its competitors might bring the virus back home.

The only official present at the Games was chef de mission and two-time Fijian Olympian Josateki Naulu.

[‡ 1][8] The athletes that competed were sprinter Lataisi Mwea, judoka Kinaua Biribo, and weightlifter Ruben Katoatau.

[6] The Kiribati delegation marched 55th out of 206 countries in the 2020 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations within the opening ceremony, due to the host's use of the local kana alphabetical system.

[17] The eventual gold medal winner was Marcell Jacobs of Italy, who set a new European record in the event.

[18] Kiribati sent one female judoka to the Games based on the International Judo Federation Olympics Individual Ranking.

[25] Kinaua was abducted and sexually assaulted when she was six years old, and she stated that she wanted to use her participation at the Games and her sport to motivate women back in the nation to bring to light the issues of domestic and gender-based violence.

Ruben Katoatau topped the list of weightlifters from Oceania in the men's 67 kg category based on the IWF Absolute Continental Rankings.