Nauru qualified one judoka for the men's middleweight category (90 kg) at the Games. Ovini Uera earned the continental quota spot from the Oceania region, as Nauru's top-ranked judoka in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016. Uera said in an interview that he started judo in 2012 from his need to learn grapples in boxing. He said he "immediately fell in love with the sport".