Six marathon runners (three per gender) were the first set of U.S. track and field athletes selected for the Games by virtue of their top three finish at the Olympic Team Trials in Los Angeles on February 13, 2016.

One week later in Santee, California, three-time Olympian John Nunn joined them on the team by winning the men's 50 km (31 mi) walk trials under the entry standard (4:06:00).

[8] Hammer throwers Kibwe Johnson, Conor McCullough, and Rudy Winkler were added to the team on July 14, after the IAAF extended invitations to fill out the event.

[9] Track & road events Men Women # – During the second heat the United States missed their second handover which was caused by Franciela Krasucki of the Brazilian team bumping Allyson Felix as she approached the handoff to English Gardner.

Quarterfinal Semifinal Gold medal match The U.S. women's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2014 FIBA World Championships.

[17][18] Meanwhile, four U.S. boxers (Hernandez, Stevenson, Conwell, and Mayer) claimed their Olympic spots at the 2016 American Qualification Tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[19] London 2012 middleweight champion Claressa Shields was the only U.S. female boxer to receive her Olympic spot with a quarterfinal victory at the World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.

[20] Antonio Vargas and Gary Antuanne Russell were the only Americans to secure additional places on the boxing team at the 2016 AIBA World Qualifying Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Two-time Olympic silver medalist Sarah Hammer automatically earned a selection to the U.S. track cycling team in the women's omnium with a superb runner-up finish at the 2016 UCI World Championships in London.

They were eventually joined by men's foil (Massialas, Meinhardt, and Chamley-Watson) and women's épée (Holmes and Hurley sisters) a few weeks later.

[53][54] Team roster Head coach: Jill Ellis The United States named a squad of 18 players and 4 alternates for the tournament, which was announced on 12 July 2016.

Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar, Patrick Reed, and Bubba Watson qualified directly among the top 15 players for the men's event, while Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller, and Lexi Thompson did so for the women's based on the IGF World Rankings as of July 11, 2016.

[60] Men Women These Olympic Games marked the first time the United States directly qualified a whole gymnastics team in all three modalities.

[62] John Orozco was originally named to the team, but announced that he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee on July 15 after dismounting from the horizontal bar at a training camp.

[66][67] Individual Group The United States qualified one gymnast each in the men's and women's trampoline by virtue of a top eight finish at the 2016 Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro.

[71] Meanwhile, London 2012 Olympian Margaux Isaksen qualified for the women's modern pentathlon as one of eleven top-ranked individuals in the UIPM World Rankings as of June 1, 2016.

[79] The U.S. Olympic team was determined based on the sailors' finishing positions, that is, their lowest series score from their respective class in selected major international regattas.

[81] Meanwhile, the remaining single-handed sailors (Pascual, Buckingham, Paine, Lepert, and Railey), along with the 470 crews, claimed their Olympic spots at the European Championships and Princess Sofia Trophy Regatta.

[83] The remaining shooters were determined by the Olympic Team Selection trials to secure their spots in each event, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by March 31, 2016.

A total of 47 swimmers (25 men and 22 women) were named to the U.S. Olympic team at the end of the trials, with the most decorated Olympian Michael Phelps emerging as the first ever male American to compete at his fifth Games, long-distance ace Jordan Wilimovsky becoming the first to double in pool and open water, and Anthony Ervin making history as the oldest male to swim in an individual event since 1904. Notable swimmers also included 11-time medalist Ryan Lochte, world record holder Katie Ledecky, and reigning Olympic champions Missy Franklin, Dana Vollmer, and Allison Schmitt.

[88] On August 11, 2016, Phelps set another historic record as the first ever swimmer to earn four consecutive gold medals in the men's 200 m individual medley.

Women Qualifiers for the latter rounds (Q) of all events were decided on a time only basis, therefore positions shown are overall results versus competitors in all heats.

[93] London 2012 Olympian Timothy Wang and U.S. champion Zheng Jiaqi were each awarded the third spot to build the men's and women's teams for the Games as the top North American nation in the ITTF Olympic Rankings.

[97][98][99] On July 30, 2016, the Bryan brothers announced that both of them withdrew from the Games due to concerns around a family health problem, missing an opportunity to defend their Olympic title.

[102] Meanwhile, Joe Maloy, Greg Billington, and Ben Kanute were ranked among the top 40 eligible triathletes in the men's event based on the ITU Olympic Qualification List as of May 15, 2016.

[104] Summary The U.S. men's volleyball team qualified for the Olympics by attaining a top two finish at the 2015 FIVB World Cup in Japan.

Quarterfinal Semifinal Bronze medal match The U.S. men's water polo team qualified for the Olympics, after securing a spot in the gold medal match and having attained an automatic berth by virtue of Olympic host nation Brazil's win in the other semifinal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.

Quarterfinal Semifinal Gold medal match U.S. weightlifters qualified three women's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships.

[115] A single men's Olympic spot was added to the U.S. roster by virtue of a top seven national finish at the 2016 Pan American Championships.

Among them were London 2012 gold medalist Jordan Burroughs and World champions Helen Maroulis, Kyle Snyder, and Adeline Gray.