| Uruguay at the 2016 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | URU |
| NOC | Uruguayan Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| in Rio de Janeiro | |
| Competitors | 17 in 8 sports |
| Flag bearer | Dolores Moreira[1] |
| Medals |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
Uruguay competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's official debut in 1920, Uruguayan athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, because of its partial support to the United States-led boycott.
The Uruguayan Olympic Committee (Spanish: Comité Olímpico Uruguayo, COU) confirmed a team of 17 athletes, 12 men and 5 women, to compete in eight sports at the Games.[2][3] It was the nation's largest delegation sent to the Olympics since 1968, without any association to the team-based sports. There was only a single competitor in judo, rowing, tennis, weightlifting, and equestrian.
Four athletes on the Uruguayan roster previously competed at London 2012, with two of them headed to their fourth Games: hurdler Andrés Silva and sailing legend Alejandro Foglia, who finished among the top eight in the Laser class before moving to Finn. Foglia was joined by his older sister Mariana, who sailed alongside her husband Pablo Defazio in the Nacra 17 category.[4] Other notable Uruguayan athletes included marathon twins Martín and Nicolás Cuestas, world no. 40 tennis player Pablo Cuevas, and 17-year-old Laser Radial sailor Dolores Moreira, who was selected to carry the nation's flag at the opening ceremony.[1][5]
Uruguay, however, did not win any Olympic medals in Rio de Janeiro. The nation's last medal happened at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where track cyclist Milton Wynants bagged a silver in the points race (currently replaced by Omnium). Unable to end the nation's 16-year podium drought, long jumper Emiliano Lasa delivered the most successful outcome for the Uruguayans at the Games, placing sixth in the men's long jump final.[6]
- ^ a b "Dolores Moreira es la abanderada" [Dolores Moreira is the flag bearer] (in Spanish). Ovación. 19 July 2016.
- ^ "Conocé la agenda de los celestes en los Juegos Olímpicos de Río 2016" [Recognize the schedule of the stars at the 2016 Rio Olympics] (in Spanish). La Red. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- ^ "Uruguay en Río de Janeiro" [Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro] (in Spanish). Uruguay: La República. 30 July 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- ^ "A Rio se va en familia" [A family is going to Rio] (in Spanish). Ovación. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- ^ "Rio 2016, more flag bearers for sailing than Beijing and London combined". International Sailing Federation. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ "Emiliano Lasa ganó diploma olímpico y marcó la historia del atletismo uruguayo" [Emiliano Lasa earns Olympic diploma and mark in Uruguay's athletics history] (in Spanish). Ovación. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.