The Mozambique National Olympic Committee (Portuguese: Comité Olímpico Nacional de Moçambique) sent a team of six athletes, five men and one woman, to compete in four different sports at the Games.[2] Among the sports represented by the athletes, Mozambique marked its Olympic debut in flatwater canoeing.
The majority of the Mozambican roster made their Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro, except for hurdler Kurt Couto, who attended his fourth straight Games as the most experienced competitor. Other notable athletes included Dutch-born butterfly swimmer and 2014 Youth Olympian Jannah Sonnenschein, the lone female of the team, and the canoeing tandem of Mussa Chamaune and Joaquim Lobo, who acted as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.[1]
Mozambique, however, failed to win a single Olympic medal since the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where middle-distance runner Maria Mutola became the nation's first ever champion in the women's 800 metres.
Mozambique qualified one boat for the men's C-2 1000 m into the Olympic canoeing regatta through the 2016 African Sprint Qualifying Tournament, signifying the nation's Olympic debut in the sport.
Mozambique qualified one judoka for the men's half-middleweight category (81 kg) at the Games. Marlon Acácio earned a continental quota spot from the African region as Mozambique's top-ranked judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016.[5][6]