Comité Olímpico Peruano sent the nation's smallest ever team to the Games since the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. A total of twelve athletes, seven men and five women, competed in ten different sports. Two athletes from the Peruvian team had previously competed in Sydney: butterfly swimmer Juan Pablo Valdivieso and 1984 Olympic silver medalist Francisco Boza in men's trap shooting (who became the first Peruvian athlete to participate in seven Olympic Games, surpassing a single edition short of a historic record by fellow shooter Juan Giha). Being the oldest and most sophisticated member of the team, Boza was assigned by the committee to become the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.[1] Peru, however, failed to win a single Olympic medal since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where Giha won the silver in the mixed skeet.
Peruvian athletes achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard).[2][3]
Key
Note – Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Q = Qualified for the next round
q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; R=Repechage
Peruvian swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the A-standard time, and 1 at the B-standard time):
