The São Tomé and Príncipe National Olympic Committee (NOC) selected two athletes via wildcards. Usually a NOC would be able to select up to three athletes per event providing that each athlete passed the "A" standard time for that event. If no athletes met the "A" standard, then the NOC would be able to select one athlete for the event, providing that they pass the "B" standard time for the event in question. However, since São Tomé and Príncipe had no athletes that met either standard for any event, they were allowed to select their best two athletes, one of each gender, to represent the nation at the Games. This was to ensure that every nation had a minimum of two representatives in the Summer Olympics. The two athletes that were selected to compete in the Athens games were Yazaldes Nascimento in the Men's 100 meters and Fumilay Fonseca in the Women's 20 kilometers walk. Fonseca was selected as flag bearer for the opening ceremony.