In March 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach declared that the IOC would choose five to ten refugees to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in the context of the "worldwide refugee crisis",[2] of which the European migrant crisis is a prominent part.

[9] The IOC identified 43 potential candidates for inclusion in the team with the final selection to take into account sporting ability, personal circumstances, and United Nations-verified refugee status.

[10] An initial three athletes were identified as potential competitors for Rio; Yusra Mardini, a 17-year-old Syrian swimmer, who crossed from Turkey into Greece in an inflatable boat (swimming after its motor had stopped) before crossing Europe by train through mainland Greece, the Balkans, Hungary and Austria to eventually reach Germany where she now lives and trains;[11] Raheleh Asemani, an Iranian taekwondo athlete training in Belgium; and judoka Popole Misenga, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo but now living in Brazil.

[12] Additional candidates were identified: among refugees of the Syrian Civil War, cyclists Ahmad Badreddin Wais and Nazir Jaser and triathlete Mohamad Masoo; and in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, where a support program run by former marathon world record holder Tegla Loroupe identified 23 athletes.

[2] Yonas Kinde is originally from Ethiopia and was 36 years old at the time of these Olympics, and competed in the men's Marathon.

[20] Biel's race was the 800 m meters, where he finished eighth in his heat with a time of 1 minute and 54.67 seconds, insufficient to qualify for the next round.

[24] She ran in the women's 1500 meters race, and finished 14th and last in her heat with a time of 4 minutes and 47.38 seconds, eliminating her from the competition.

Both Popole Misenga and Yolande Mabika are originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo but have been training in Brazil.

[37] On 9 August, he took part in the men's 100 meters freestyle's first round, from where the top 16 swimmers proceeded to the semifinals.

[42] On 6 August, she swam in the first round of the women's 100 meters butterfly and won her heat in a time of 1 minute and 9.21 seconds.

[47] Qualifiers for the latter rounds of all events were decided on a time-only basis, therefore ranks shown are overall results versus competitors in all heats.