Ireland at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Ireland at the 2016 Summer Olympics
IOC code	IRL
NOC	Olympic Federation of Ireland
Website	olympics.ie
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors	77 in 14 sports
Flag bearers	Paddy Barnes (opening)[1] Gary O'Donovan (closing)
Medals Ranked 63rd	Gold 0 Silver 2 Bronze 0 Total 2
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
Great Britain (1896–1920)

Ireland competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's twenty-first appearance at the Summer Olympics, having attended every edition, either in its own right or as part of a Great Britain and Ireland team before 1924, with the exception of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany.

The Olympic Council of Ireland fielded a team of 77 athletes, 51 men and 26 women, across 14 sports at the Games.^[2] It was the nation's largest delegation sent to the Olympics since 1996, due to the historic comeback of the men's field hockey squad after a century-long absence.^[3][4] Apart from field hockey, Ireland also made its Olympic return to diving after nearly seven decades, as well as its debut in golf (new to the 2016 Games) and women's track cycling.

The Irish roster featured four Olympic medalists from London 2012, namely defending boxing champion Katie Taylor in the women's flyweight division, boxers Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes (bronze in 2008 and 2012), who was selected as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony, and race walking veteran Robert Heffernan, who became the first Irishman in history to participate in five Olympics.^[1][5] Kevin Kilty was named as Team Ireland Chef de Mission for the Games.^[6]

Ireland returned home from Rio de Janeiro with two silver medals. Brothers Gary and Paul O'Donovan etched their names on Irish sporting history by winning the country's first ever medal in rowing, and instantly became internet sensations after several videos of them being interviewed went viral.^[7] Meanwhile, Laser Radial sailor Annalise Murphy banished her pain of missing out the podium at London 2012 with a silver-medal effort in the Laser Radial class, ending Ireland's 36-year-old drought on the sport.^[8] For the first time in 12 years, Ireland failed to collect a single medal in boxing, as none of its boxers progressed beyond the quarterfinal round.^[9]