The triathlon competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 18 to 20 August 2016 at Fort Copacabana.

To qualify for the Games, all athletes must earn a quota place through the Continental Qualification Events, achieve a top three finish through the World Qualification Event and be among the top 140 in the Olympic Qualification List, World Triathlon Series Ranking, and Points List.

[3][4] Thirty-nine athletes for each gender qualified through the ranking, next to the 5 continental champions and the top 3 in the International Qualifying Event, held in Rio de Janeiro on 1–2 August 2015.

Host nation Brazil had reserved one quota per gender, while two more were allocated according to the Tripartite Commission Invitation.

In the end, further five places were distributed to the NOCs without any quota through the ITU Points List.