The Uruguayan Olympic Committee (Spanish: Comité Olímpico Uruguayo, COU) confirmed a team of 17 athletes, 12 men and 5 women, to compete in eight sports at the Games.

Four athletes on the Uruguayan roster previously competed at London 2012, with two of them headed to their fourth Games: hurdler Andrés Silva and sailing legend Alejandro Foglia, who finished among the top eight in the Laser class before moving to Finn.

40 tennis player Pablo Cuevas, and 17-year-old Laser Radial sailor Dolores Moreira, who was selected to carry the nation's flag at the opening ceremony.

The nation's last medal happened at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where track cyclist Milton Wynants bagged a silver in the points race (currently replaced by Omnium).

Pablo Aprahamian earned a continental quota spot from the Pan American region, as Uruguay's top-ranked judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016.