The National Olympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ) sent a team of seven athletes, five men and two women, to compete in four different sports at the Games, matching its roster size with London 2012.

[2] The Zambian delegation featured two returning Olympians from the previous Games, including freestyle swimmer Jade Ashleigh Howard and sprinter Gerald Phiri in the men's 100 metres.

20-year-old swimmer and 2014 Youth Olympian Ralph Goveia (men's 100 m butterfly) was Zambia's youngest competitor, while half-lightweight judoka Mathews Punza (men's 66 kg), the oldest of the team (aged 28), served as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.

Punza and sprinter Kabange Mupopo (women's 400 metres) were the only Zambians to progress beyond the first round of their respective sporting events at the Games, but neither of them reached the final and had the opportunity to end their nation's 20-year podium drought.

Mathews Punza earned a continental quota spot from the African region, as Zambia's top-ranked judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016.