Australia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Australia is one of only five countries to have sent athletes to every Summer Olympics of the modern era, alongside Great Britain, France, Greece, and Switzerland.

At the end of these Olympics, Australia was ranked in tenth position on the medal table with a total of 29 medals (8 gold, 11 silver, and 10 bronze). This was Australia's lowest medal tally and lowest rank since the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona where Australia also ranked tenth but only won 27 medals.

Medallists

The following Australian competitors won medals at the games. In the by discipline sections below, medallists' names are bolded.

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Medal Name Sport Event Date Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle Cate CampbellBrittany ElmslieEmma McKeonMadison Wilson* Swimming Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay Shooting Women's trap Australia women's national rugby sevens team Rugby sevens Women's tournament Swimming Men's 100 m freestyle Rowing Women's single sculls Sailing Men's Laser Modern pentathlon Women's event Swimming Women's 200 m butterfly *Bronte BarrattTamsin CookEmma McKeonLeah Neale Swimming Women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay Karsten ForsterlingCameron GirdlestoneJames McRae Rowing Men's quadruple sculls Swimming Men's 200 m backstroke Josh Dunkley-SmithAlexander HillWill Lockwood Rowing Men's coxless four Alex EdmondsonMichael HepburnSam Welsford Cycling Men's team pursuit *Madeline Groves*Madison Wilson* Swimming Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay Lisa Darmanin Sailing Nacra 17 William Ryan Sailing Men's 470 Iain Jensen Sailing Men's 49er Athletics 50 km walk Ryan TyackTaylor Worth Archery Men's team Anabelle Smith Diving Women's 3 m synchronized springboard *Kyle ChalmersJames MagnussenJames RobertsCameron McEvoy Swimming Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay Sam GriffithsShane RoseStuart Tinney Equestrian Team eventing Swimming Women's 200 m freestyle Jessica Fox Canoeing Women's slalom K-1 Athletics Men's 20 km walk Cycling Women's keirin Cameron McEvoy* Swimming Men's 4 × 100 m medley relay Canoeing Men's K-2 1000 m | style="text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;"|

Medals by sportSport TotalSwimming34310Sailing1304Rowing1203Modern pentathlon1001Rugby sevens1001Shooting1001Athletics0112Cycling0112Canoeing0022Archery0011Diving0011Equestrian0011Total8111029

Medals by dateDate Total6 Aug20137 Aug10238 Aug10019 Aug002210 Aug120311 Aug021312 Aug021313 Aug112414 Aug000015 Aug000016 Aug110217 Aug000018 Aug021319 Aug110220 Aug000021 Aug0000Total8111029

Medals by genderGender TotalMale37616Female53412Mixed0101Total 8 11 10 29

Multiple medallistsNameSport Total Emma McKeon Swimming 1 2 1 4 Madison Wilson Swimming 1 1 0 2 Cate Campbell Swimming 1 1 0 2 Brittany Elmslie Swimming 1 1 0 2 Kyle Chalmers Swimming 1 0 2 3 Madeline Groves Swimming 0 2 0 2 Mitch Larkin Swimming 0 1 1 2 Cameron McEvoy Swimming 0 0 2 2

* – Indicates the athlete competed in preliminaries but not the final relay.

Competitors Kitty Chiller, who competed as a modern pentathlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, was selected as the team's Chef de Mission, the first female to hold the role for Australia.

SportMenWomenTotalArchery 3 1 4Athletics 29 30 59Badminton 3 2 5Basketball 12 12 24Boxing 2 1 3Canoeing 12 4 16Cycling 17 14 31Diving 4 5 9Equestrian 7 5 12Field hockey 16 16 32Football 0 18 18Golf 2 2 4Gymnastics 1 2 3Judo 4 3 7Modern pentathlon 1 1 2Rowing 13 16 29Rugby sevens 13 12 25Sailing 7 4 11Shooting 12 6 18Swimming 19 20 39Synchronized swimming — 9 9Table tennis 3 3 6Taekwondo 2 2 4Tennis 6 4 10Triathlon 3 3 6Volleyball 0 4 4Water polo 13 13 26Weightlifting 1 1 2Wrestling 3 0 3 Total 208 213 421

Funding In May 2014 Australian Sports Minister Peter Dutton announced that 650 Australian athletes identified as medal prospects would receive funding directly from a newly designed program that reallocated A$1.6 million from the Direct Athlete Support program.

In the lead up to the Rio Olympics, the Australian Sports Commission advised that it had invested A$376.7 million to high performance sports in the Rio cycle 2012–2016. This amount includes funding to Winter Olympics and non-Olympic sports.

Archery

Three Australian archers qualified for the men's events after having secured a top eight finish in the team recurve at the 2015 World Archery Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. Another Australian archer has been added to the squad by finishing in the top two of the women's individual recurve at the Oceania Qualification Tournament in Nuku'alofa, Tonga.

The men's team (Potts, Tyack, and Worth) was officially named to the Australian roster for the Games on 31 May 2016, with Alice Ingley joining them on her Olympic debut in the women's individual archery one month later.

AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankAlec PottsMen's individual66620 L 4–6Did not advanceRyan Tyack66523L 2–6Did not advanceTaylor Worth67414 W 6–0W 6–4W 7–3L 5–6Did not advanceAlec PottsRyan TyackTaylor WorthMen's team20054colspan=2 W 5–3L 0–6W 6–2Alice IngleyWomen's individual59358W 7–1L 0–6Did not advance

Athletics

Australian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event). The team selected its athletes with a specific qualifying standard based on the results at the 2016 Australian Championships and Olympic Trials (31 March to 3 April) in Sydney.

On 8 January 2016, the Australian Olympic Committee had selected the two long-distance runners (one each in both men's and women's 10,000 m) and three race walkers, including three-time Olympic medallist Jared Tallent, in the men's . Twenty-seven track and field athletes were announced on 3 April 2016, following the completion of the Australian Championships. Six marathon runners (three per gender) were named to the Australian team on 12 May 2016, and were followed by three race walkers and one long-distance runner at the first of week of June 2016.

On 29 June 2016, sprint hurdler and reigning Olympic champion Sally Pearson withdrew from the Games due to a hamstring injury, with middle-distance runner Melissa Duncan following her with the same incident two weeks later.

On 30 July 2016, sprinter Josh Clarke withdrew from the Games after failing to fully recover from a hamstring injury that he suffered in the early months of the year.

Monica Brennan was selected for the women's 4 × 400 m relay team, but did not run in either heat or final.

Men Track & road events AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankAlex Hartmann200 m21.025Did not advancePeter Bol800 m1:49.366Did not advanceLuke Mathews1:50.407Did not advanceJeff Riseley1:46.934Did not advanceRyan Gregson1500 m3:39.132 Q3:40.024 Q3:51.399Luke Mathews3:44.5112Did not advanceSam McEntee5000 m13:50.5518colspan=2 Did not advanceBrett Robinson13:22.819 qcolspan=2 13:32.3014Patrick Tiernan13:28.4813colspan=2 Did not advanceDavid McNeill10000 mcolspan=4 27:51.7116Ben St Lawrencecolspan=4 28:46.3228Liam AdamsMarathoncolspan=4 2:16:1231Michael Shelleycolspan=4 2:18:0647Scott Westcottcolspan=4 2:22:1981Dane Bird-Smith20 km walkcolspan=4 1:19:37Rhydian Cowleycolspan=4 1:23:3033Chris Erickson50 km walkcolspan=4 3:48:409Brendon Readingcolspan=4 4:13:0239Jared Tallentcolspan=4 3:41:16

Women AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankMelissa Breen100 m11.747Did not advanceElla Nelson200 m 22.66 2 Q22.503Did not advanceMorgan Mitchell400 m51.302 Q52.688Did not advanceAnneliese Rubie51.923 q51.966Did not advanceSelma Kajan800 m2:05.207Did not advanceJenny Blundell1500 m4:09.058 q4:13.2511Did not advanceZoe Buckman4:06.936 Q4:06.959Did not advanceLinden Hall4:11.754 Q4:05.818Did not advanceMadeline Hills5000 m 15:21.33 6 qcolspan=2 15:04.05 10Genevieve LaCaze 15:20.45 7 qcolspan=2 15:10.35 12Eloise Wellings5000 m 15:19.02 6 qcolspan=2 15:01.59 910000 mcolspan=4 31:14.9410Michelle Jenneke100 m hurdles13.266Did not advanceLauren Wells400 m hurdles56.264 q56.837Did not advanceMadeline Hills3000 m steeplechase9:24.165 qcolspan=2 9:20.387Genevieve LaCaze9:26.252 Qcolspan=2 9:21.219Victoria Mitchell9:39.4010colspan=2 Did not advanceMorgan MitchellAnneliese RubieCaitlin SargentJessica Thornton4 × 400 m relay3:25.714 qcolspan=2 3:27.458Milly ClarkMarathoncolspan=4 2:30:5318Jessica Trengovecolspan=4 2:31:4422Lisa Weightmancolspan=4 2:34:4131Tanya Holliday20 km walkcolspan=4 1:34:2226Regan Lamblecolspan=4 1:30:289Rachel Tallentcolspan=4 1:37:0840

Field events Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionHenry FrayneLong jump8.016 q8.067Fabrice Lapierre7.968 q7.8710Joel BadenHigh jump2.1741Did not advanceBrandon Starc2.2911 q2.2015Kurtis MarschallPole vault5.6010Did not advanceDamien BirkinheadShot put20.509 q20.4510Matthew DennyDiscus throw61.1619Did not advanceBenn Harradine60.8520Did not advanceHamish PeacockJavelin throw77.9125Did not advanceJoshua Robinson80.8413Did not advance

Women AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionChelsea JaenschLong jump6.4117Did not advanceBrooke Stratton6.569 q6.747Eleanor PattersonHigh jump1.89=22Did not advanceAlana BoydPole vault4.558 q4.804Dani SamuelsDiscus throw64.464 Q64.904Kim MickleJavelin throw57.2022Did not advanceKathryn Mitchell61.6312 q64.366Kelsey-Lee Roberts55.2528Did not advance

Combined events – Men's decathlon AthleteEventFinalRankCedric Dubler Result10.867.4711.492.1348.1814.3038.894.9051.824:32.12802414Points892927575925900936642880616731

Badminton

Australia has qualified a total of six badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament based on the BWF World Rankings as of 5 May 2016: one entry each in the men's and women's singles, as well as the pair each in the men's and mixed doubles through the Oceania continental representation system.

With the option to select a maximum of two events under the continental representation system, the Australian Olympic Committee had decided to accept invitations for the men's doubles (Chau & Serasinghe) and mixed doubles (Middleton & Choo) instead. As there were no other Oceania places taken up in the women's singles, Taiwanese-born Chen Hsuan-yu (world no. 74) qualified directly on the World Rankings.

AthleteEventGroup StageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankMatthew ChauSawan SerasingheMen's doublesL (14–21, 16–21)L (16–21, 16–21)L (14–21, 19–21)4Did not advanceChen Hsuan-yuWomen's singlesL (14–21, 15–21)L (16–21, 19–21)3Did not advanceRobin MiddletonLeanne ChooMixed doublesL (7–21, 8–21)L (17–21, 15–21)L (13–21, 18–21)4Did not advance

Basketball

Men's tournament

Australia men's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship in Melbourne and Wellington.

Team roster

Group play

Quarterfinal

Semifinal

Bronze medal match

Women's tournament

Australia women's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by winning the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championships in Melbourne and Tauranga.

Team roster

Group play

Quarterfinal

Boxing

Australia has entered three boxers to compete in each of the following weight classes into the Olympic boxing tournament. Daniel Lewis, Jason Whateley, and 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Shelley Watts claimed their Olympic spots at the 2016 Asia & Oceania Qualification Tournament in Qian'an, China.

AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankDaniel LewisMen's middleweight W 2–1 L 0–3Did not advanceJason WhateleyMen's heavyweightL 0–3Did not advanceShelley WattsWomen's lightweightL 1–2Did not advance