Serbia competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's fourth appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent country. 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), achieving the nation's most successful feat in Summer Olympic history since the break-up of Yugoslavia, and also doubling its previous medal tally from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. 54 Serbian athletes (about 52 percent of the whole team) contributed to the medal count, with the majority of those coming in the signature team sports (men's water polo, men's and women's basketball, and women's volleyball).
Five Serbian athletes collected medals in individual sports. Among them were Greco-Roman wrestler Davor Štefanek, the first Serbian to win an Olympic gold in the sport after 32 years; long jumper Ivana Španović, 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 were runners-up in the long-distance double (men's K-2 1000 m).
Medalists
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Medal Name Sport Event Date Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 66 kg 16 August Serbia men's national water polo teamWater polo Men's tournament Taekwondo Women's 49 kg 17 August Canoeing Men's K-2 1000 metres 18 August Serbia women's national volleyball teamVolleyball Women's tournament Serbia men's national basketball teamBasketball Men's tournament Athletics Women's long jump 17 August Serbia women's national basketball teamBasketball Women's tournament | width=22% align=left valign=top | | style="text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;"|
Medals by sportSport TotalWater polo 1 0 0 1Wrestling 1 0 0 1Basketball 0 1 1 2Canoeing 0 1 0 1Taekwondo 0 1 0 1Volleyball 0 1 0 1Athletics 0 0 1 1Total 2 4 2 8
Medals by dayDay Total16 August 1 0 0 117 August 0 1 1 218 August 0 1 0 120 August 1 1 1 321 August 0 1 0 1Total 2 4 2 8
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 collective 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 shooters Zorana Arunović (European Games gold medalist) and Andrea Arsović (European champion and world's top-ranked), freestyle swimmer and London 2012 finalist Velimir Stjepanović, water polo team captain Živko Gocić, and basketballers Miloš Teodosić (team captain and EuroLeague champion), Nikola Jokić (who currently played for NBA's Denver Nuggets) and Ana Dabović (WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and EuroBasket MVP).
The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games: SportMenWomenTotalAthletics 7 5 12Basketball 12 12 24Canoeing 6 4 10Cycling 1 1 2Judo 1 0 1Rowing 4 0 4Shooting 5 4 9Swimming 2 2 4Table tennis 1 0 1Taekwondo 0 2 2Tennis 3 3 6Volleyball 0 12 12Water polo 13 0 13Wrestling 3 0 3 Total 58 45 103
Athletics
Serbian athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):
Track & road events Men AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankMilan Ristić110 m hurdles13.666Did not advanceAnđelko RističevićMarathoncolspan=4 2:30:17119Nenad Filipović50 km walkcolspan=4 4:25:4146Predrag Filipovićcolspan=4 4:39:4849Vladimir Savanovićcolspan=4 4:15:5342
Women AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankTamara Salaški400 m52.703Did not advanceAmela Terzić800 m2:00.992 Q2:03.817Did not advance1500 m4:15.1710Did not advanceOlivera JevtićMarathoncolspan=4
Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionAsmir KolašinacMen's shot put20.1615Did not advanceIvana ŠpanovićWomen's long jump6.871 Q7.08 NRDragana TomaševićWomen's discus throw57.6719Did not advance
Combined events – Men's decathlon AthleteEvent 100 m 400 m 1500 mFinalRankMihail DudašResult10.837.2914.232.0449.1314.6543.274.60—Points899883742840855892731790——
Basketball
Men's tournament
Serbia men's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by securing its lone outright berth and winning the final match over Puerto Rico at the Belgrade leg of the 2016 FIBA World Qualifying Tournament, signifying the nation's debut in the sport since it gained independence from Montenegro in 2006.
Team roster
Group play
Quarterfinal
Semifinal
Gold medal match
Women's tournament
The Serbian women's basketball team qualified for the Olympics by winning the EuroBasket Women 2015 in Hungary.
Team roster
Group play
Quarterfinal
Semifinal
Bronze medal match
Canoeing
Sprint
Serbian canoeists have qualified one boat in each of the following events through the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.
Men AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankMarko NovakovićK-1 200 m34.9383 Q34.7785 FB37.41513Dejan PajićK-1 1000 m3:36.8844 Q3:48.1588 FB3:40.50215Nebojša Grujić Marko NovakovićK-2 200 m31.7762 Q32.5133 FA32.6566Marko TomićevićMilenko ZorićK-2 1000 m3:15.2981 FAcolspan=2 3:10.969Marko TomićevićMilenko ZorićDejan PajićVladimir TorubarovK-4 1000 m3:05.2726 Q2:59.6363 FA3:10.2418
Women AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankOlivera MoldovanK-1 200 m43.3395 Q42.1237Did not advanceDalma Ružičić-BenedekK-1 500 m1:54.0485 Q1:57.2943 FA1:55.0957Nikolina MoldovanMilica StarovićK-2 500 m1:46.4105 Q1:46.0086 FB1:48.14610Nikolina MoldovanOlivera MoldovanDalma Ružičić-BenedekMilica StarovićK-4 500 m1:39.3167 Q1:38.3985 FB1:42.81814 Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)
Cycling
Road Serbia has qualified one rider in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of his top 200 individual ranking in the 2015 UCI Europe Tour.
AthleteEventTimeRankIvan StevićMen's road raceDid not finish
Mountain biking Serbia has qualified one mountain biker for the women's Olympic cross-country race, as a result of her nation's seventeenth-place finish in the UCI Olympic Ranking List of 25 May 2016.Qualifying Places, Cycling, Mountain Bike
AthleteEventTimeRankJovana CrnogoracWomen's cross-country (2 laps)27
Judo
Serbia has qualified one judoka for the men's middleweight category (90 kg) at the Games. Aleksander Kukolj was directly ranked among the top 22 eligible judokas for men in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.
AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechageFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankAleksandar KukoljMen's −90 kgW 100–000L 000–100Did not advance
Rowing
Serbia has qualified two boats for each of the following rowing classes into the Olympic regatta. One rowing crew had confirmed Olympic place for their boat in the men's pair at the 2015 FISA World Championships in Lac d'Aiguebelette, France, while the men's double sculls rowers had added one more boat to the Serbian roster as a result of their top two finish at the 2016 European & Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.
AthleteEventHeatsRepechageSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankNenad BeđikMiloš VasićMen's pair6:34.522 SA/B6:31.005 FB7:04.7110Marko MarjanovićAndrija ŠljukićMen's double sculls7:07.294 R6:20.623 SA/B6:27.665 FB7:03.1310 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; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
Shooting
Serbian shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 ISSF World Shooting Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and European Championships or Games, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by 31 March 2016.
The entire shooting squad was named to the Serbian roster for the Games on 6 July 2016, with rifle specialist Stevan Pletikosić becoming the first male shooter to compete at his sixth Olympics. Notable absence in the roster was pistol legend Jasna Šekarić, who bid to establish a historic milestone as one of the first female athletes, alongside Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze to appear in eight editions of the Games.
Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalPointsRankPointsRankDimitrije Grgić10 m air pistol5799Did not advance50 m pistol55216Did not advanceDamir Mikec10 m air pistol57525Did not advance50 m pistol55118Did not advanceStevan Pletikosić50 m rifle prone621.621Did not advance50 m rifle 3 positions116825Did not advanceMilenko Sebić10 m air rifle620.033Did not advance50 m rifle prone620.434Did not advance50 m rifle 3 positions117211Did not advanceMilutin Stefanović10 m air rifle624.312Did not advance
Women AthleteEventQualificationSemifinalFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankAndrea Arsović10 m air rifle413.526colspan=2 Did not advance50 m rifle 3 positions57328colspan=2 Did not advanceZorana Arunović10 m air pistol38211colspan=2 Did not advance25 m pistol57619Did not advanceIvana Anđušić Maksimović10 m air rifle415.412colspan=2 Did not advance50 m rifle 3 positions57819colspan=2 Did not advanceBobana Veličković10 m air pistol3856 Qcolspan=2 96.4725 m pistol57621Did not advance
Swimming
Serbian swimmers have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):
AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankČaba SilađiMen's 100 m breaststroke1:00.7626Did not advanceVelimir StjepanovićMen's 100 m freestyle49.2432Did not advanceMen's 200 m freestyle1:46.6410 Q1:47.2813Did not advanceMen's 400 m freestyle3:46.7814colspan=2 Did not advanceAnja CrevarWomen's 200 m individual medley2:15.3327Did not advanceWomen's 400 m individual medley4:43.1920colspan=2 Did not advanceKatarina SimonovićWomen's 200 m freestyle2:00.0630Did not advanceWomen's 400 m freestyle4:15.5723colspan=2 Did not advance
Table tennis