IOC code SRB | Competitors 103 in 14 sports | |
 | ||
NOC Olympic Committee of Serbia Website www.oks.org.rs (Serbian) Flag bearer Ivana Anđušić Maksimović (opening)
Tijana Bogdanović (closing) Medals
Ranked 32nd Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
2
4
2
8 | ||
Serbia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's fourth appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent nation. The Olympic Committee of Serbia confirmed a roster of 103 athletes, 58 men and 45 women, to compete across 14 sports at the Games.
Serbia left Rio de Janeiro with a total of 8 medals (2 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze), signifying the nation's most successful feat in Summer Olympic history since the break-up of Yugoslavia, and also doubling its previous medal tally set at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Fifty-four Serbian athletes (about 52 percent of the whole team) contributed to the medal count, with the majority of those coming in traditional team sports (men's water polo, men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball).
Five Serbian athletes collected medals in their respective individual-based sports. Among them were Greco-Roman wrestler Davor Štefanek, who became the first Serbian to win an Olympic gold in his pet sport after 32 years; long jumper Ivana Španović, who established history as the nation's first track and field athlete to stand on the Olympic podium in six decades; taekwondo fighter Tijana Bogdanović, who captured a silver in the women's flyweight category (49 kg); and kayak tandem Marko Tomićević and Milenko Zorić, who steadily paddled their way towards a runner-up finish in the long-distance double (men's K-2 1000 m).
Competitors
The Olympic Committee of Serbia fielded a team of 103 athletes, 58 men and 45 women, across fourteen sports at the Games. It was the nation's second-largest delegation sent to the Olympics, falling short of the record for the most number of athletes (116) achieved in London four years earlier by nearly 12 percent. Serbia qualified teams in men's water polo and women's volleyball, as well as both the men's and women's basketball for the first time in its Olympic history.
Traditional team sports accounted for nearly half of the nation's roster, amassing a combined total of 49 athletes. By individual-based sport, however, track and field constituted the largest percentage of athletes on the Serbian team, with 12 entries. There was a single competitor each in road cycling, mountain biking, judo, and table tennis.
Highlighting the list of Serbian athletes were Beijing 2008 bronze medalist Novak Djokovic, who entered the Games as the world's top-ranked tennis player in the men's singles, and taekwondo fighter Milica Mandić, who became the country's first ever Olympic champion in London four years earlier. Rifle shooting legend Stevan Pletikosić, who officially made his sixth Olympic appearance, topped the nation's roster lineup as the oldest and most experienced competitor (aged 43). Meanwhile, Pletikosic's female counterpart Ivana Anđušić Maksimović, who followed her father Goran's sporting legacy to win a silver medal in the small-bore rifle at London 2012, acted as the flag bearer for the Serbian team in the opening ceremony.
Other notable athletes on the Serbian roster included long jumper and European outdoor champion Ivana Španović, pistol shooter and European Games gold medalist Zorana Arunović, freestyle swimmer and London 2012 finalist Velimir Stjepanović, water polo team captain Živko Gocić, and basketballer Nikola Jokić, who currently played for NBA's Denver Nuggets.