As a host nation, Brazil had been awarded a single place each in the men's and women's cross-country race at the Olympics, but the mountain bikers had secured two men's and one women's quota place each, as a result of the nation's thirteenth-place finish each per gender in the UCI Olympic Nr.ing Liste over May 25, 2016, giving the unused "host" vacancies to the next highest-ranked eligible nations, not yet qualified. The mountain biking team was announced two days after the list had been released.