Panama Olympic Committee (Spanish: Comité Olímpico de Panamá) sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games since 1968, with the women outnumbering the men for the first time in its history.

Among the nation's athletes on the roster, three of them returned from London 2012, including taekwondo fighter Carolena Carstens (women's 57 kg), breaststroke swimmer Édgar Crespo, who attended his third straight Games as the most experienced competitor, and sprinter Alonso Edward, who was nominated by the committee to carry the Panamanian flag at the opening ceremony.

At the Games, Edward improved upon his false start disaster from London 2012 to produce Panama's most substantial result with a seventh-place finish in the final of the men's 200 metres.

[10] Panama has received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to send a men's pistol shooter to the Olympics, signifying the nation's comeback to the sport for the first time since 2000.

2012 Olympian Carolena Carstens secured a spot in the women's lightweight category (57 kg) by virtue of her top two finish at the 2016 Pan American Qualification Tournament in Aguascalientes, Mexico.