Malaysian former badminton player and three times Olympic Silver medalist, Datuk Lee Chong Wei was appointed on 15 June 2019 as chef de mission of the Malaysian delegation to the Games by Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Dato' Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.
[7][8] Meanwhile, the national delegation in Tokyo is managed by OCM secretary-general Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, who is also the deputy chef-de-mission.
[9] As with two previous Olympic cycles, Yonex-Sunrise provides the official kit for Team Malaysia, after it decided to extend its partnership with OCM until end of 2024.
The attire featured chevron geometric pattern in the colours of the national flag, which reflects the clear mission of the Malaysian team to achieve the country's medal target.
On 19 July 2021, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican announced that the Malaysian delegation to the 2020 Summer Olympics had a target to win three medals, including a gold medal, with badminton, track cycling and diving being the main contenders of achieving the target.
[28] Khairul ended the ranking round of the men's individual recurve event in 20th spot, shooting 72 arrows to collect 661 points.
[30][31] Syaqiera became the third Malaysian woman archer to feature in the Olympics after Mon Redee Sut Txi in Athens 2004 and Nurul Syafiqah Hashim in London 2012.
Four Malaysian divers, all female, qualified for the following individual spots and synchronized teams at the Games through the 2019 FINA World Championships and 2019 Asian Cup.
Additionally, Cheong Jun Hoong qualified to the Olympics after finishing eighteenth in the semifinal round of the women's platform in the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup thereby adding the country's number of divers to five.
For the first time since the London 2012 Summer Olympics, none of the divers secure a medal for the country, including Nur Dhabitah Sabri who narrowly missed the podium finish in the Women's 3 m springboard finals.
Farah Ann Abdul Hadi booked a spot in the women's individual all-around and apparatus events, by finishing sixteenth out of the twenty gymnasts eligible for qualification at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.