[1] Since the nation's official debut in 1920, Uruguayan athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, because of its Uruguay's support to the United States-led boycott.

Uruguayan athletes further achieved the entry standards, by world ranking, in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event, one man was qualified by Universality place):[2][3] Uruguay qualified one judoka for the men's half-middleweight category (81 kg) at the Games.

Alain Aprahamian accepted a continental berth from the Americas as the nation's top-ranked judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of June 28, 2021.

[4] Uruguay qualified one boat in the men's lightweight double sculls for the Games by winning the gold medal and securing the first of three berths available at the 2021 FISA Americas Olympic Qualification Regatta in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[6] M = Medal race; DSQ = Disqualified; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race Uruguay received a universality invitation from FINA to send two top-ranked swimmers (one per gender) in their respective individual events to the Olympics, based on the FINA Points System of June 28, 2021.