[6] On the women's side, pistol shooter Heidi Diethelm Gerber, all-around gymnast Giulia Steingruber, and former world-number-one tennis player Martina Hingis, along with her doubles partner Timea Bacsinszky, accomplished their historic feats as the first ever Swiss females to stand on the podium in their respective sporting disciplines.
Meanwhile, Nicola Spirig Hug picked up a silver in the women's triathlon to become the first in Olympic history to collect more than a single medal, bowing out her title defense to the world-ranked American challenger Gwen Jorgensen.
Three of the nation's medalists from London 2012 returned, with equestrian show jumper Steve Guerdat and triathlete Nicola Spirig Hug looking to defend their titles in Rio de Janeiro, and with mountain biker Nino Schurter hoping to complete his collection of Olympic medals for gold at his third attempt.
[2] Professional road cyclist and 2008 time trial champion Fabian Cancellara joined an exclusive club of Swiss athletes, along with Guerdat, Spirig Hug, and 2004 bronze medalist Sven Riederer (men's triathlon), who earned four consecutive trips to the Games, aiming to close out his stellar sporting career with another golden finish in the same event.
Other notable athletes on the Swiss team included the rowing quartet of Mario Gyr, Simon Niepmann, Simon Schürch, and Lucas Tramèr, who entered the Games as the defending world and two-time European champions in the men's lightweight four; former single-handed sailor Nathalie Brugger and her Argentine-born partner Matías Bühler in the inaugural Nacra 17 catamaran; pole vaulter Nicole Büchler; European Games champion Heidi Diethelm Gerber in the women's pistol shooting; and former world-number-one tennis player Martina Hingis, who returned to the Olympic scene from her 20-year absence to compete alongside her partner Timea Bacsinszky in the women's doubles.
[10] Artistic gymnast and 2015 European all-around champion Giulia Steingruber was selected by the association to carry the Swiss flag in the opening ceremony, the first by a female since 1988 and third overall in Summer Olympic history.
[16][17] Switzerland has qualified a pair of canoeists in the men's C-2 class by obtaining a top finish and an outright Olympic berth at the 2016 European Canoe Slalom Championships in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia.
[19] Switzerland has received a spare berth from the International Canoe Federation to send one canoeist competing in the men's K-1 1000 m, as a response to the "multiple positive" cases on doping that provoked a one-year suspension for Belarus and Romania.
[30] Meanwhile, London 2012 Olympian Tiffany Géroudet had claimed the sole Olympic spot as the winner of the women's épée at the European Zonal Qualifier in Prague, Czech Republic.
[41] The entire sailing squad was named to the Swiss team on May 9, 2016, with Nathalie Brugger (Nacra 17) and the men's 470 crew Yannick Brauchli and Romuald Hausser remarkably going to their third Olympics.
[44] The Swiss Olympic Association announced the shooting team, highlighted by London 2012 Olympian and European Games pistol champion Heidi Diethelm Gerber, on June 2, 2016.
[48] Käser's fellow Olympian Martina van Berkel, individual medley swimmer Maria Ugolkova, and Alexandre Haldemann, who was invited by FINA to compete in the men's 200 m freestyle as the fastest entrant outside of Olympic qualifying time, joined the roster on July 11, 2016.
[50] Switzerland has fielded a squad of two synchronized swimmers to compete only in the women's duet by virtue of their eighth-place finish at the FINA Olympic test event in Rio de Janeiro.
Having been directly entered to the singles, Bacsinszky also opted to compete in the women's doubles, along with her rookie partner Viktorija Golubic (as the latter would be on her first Olympic appearance), while Bencic paired up with returning Olympian Martina Hingis from her 20-year absence in the same tournament by virtue of the latter's top-10 WTA ranking.
[52][53] On July 26, 2016, Federer withdrew from the Games due to his knee injury problems sustained from the Madrid Open, leaving Wawrinka as the lone male player.
London 2012 champion Nicola Spirig had her sights set to an Olympic title defense in the women's triathlon with a gold medal triumph at the 2015 European Games.
[58] Meanwhile, three-time Olympian Sven Riederer, Andrea Salvisberg, and Jolanda Annen were ranked among the top 40 eligible triathletes each in the men's and women's event, respectively, based on the ITU Olympic Qualification List as of May 15, 2016.