[1][2] The winners of each of the five Continental Qualification Events are selected to compete for the Games, followed by the top three finishers at the 2015 ITU World Qualification Event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Thirty-nine athletes for each gender must directly qualify through the Olympic Qualification List as of May 15, 2016, ensuring that the first eight NOCs qualifying for positions are subjected to a maximum of three, and then the remaining NOCs to a limit to two.
[1][3] Host nation Brazil has guaranteed a single place for each gender, while further two berths are made available to NOCs through a Tripartite Invitation Commission.
In the end, further five places are distributed to the NOCs without any quota through the ITU Points List.
South Africa has awarded a quota place through the continental qualifier, but later declined, as SASCOC made an agreement on the Rio 2016 Olympics qualification criteria that the continental route would not be considered.