The emergence of Montenegro on the global sporting stage is a significant milestone. Following its independence in 2006, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) swiftly recognised the Montenegrin Olympic Committee (MOC) in 2007. It serves as the umbrella sports organisation in Montenegro and is officially recognised by the Sports Law. 

The first independent participation of the Montenegrin Olympic team was at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. 19 athletes represented Montenegro. At every other edition, except Paris, Montenegro was represented by a team of around 35 athletes. 

With a total of 19 athletes, the Paris 2024 Olympic team is a diverse representation of Montenegro's sporting talent. It includes a 13-man men's water polo team, Danka Kovinic (tennis), athletics, Darko Pesic (decathlon, athletics), swimmers Milos Milenkovic and Jovana Kuljaca, boxer Bojana Gojkovic and sailor Milivoj Dukic. 

With a population of just 618,000, this tiny and beautiful country on the shores of the Adriatic Sea has won just one Olympic medal since it began competing as a separate entity from Serbia at Athens 2004. 

Montenegro competed as part of Austria in 1912, was part of Yugoslavia from 1920 until the 1992 Winter Games, competed as an independent country at the Barcelona '92 Summer Games, was banned from Lillehammer in 1994, competed with Serbia from 1996 to 2006 and finally competed as an independent country. 

Montenegro has won just one medal at the Summer Olympics, a silver in the women's handball competition at London 2012, with Sonja Barjaktarovic, Andjela Bulatovic, Katarina Bulatovic, Ana Djokic, Marija Jovanovic, Milena Knezevic, Suzana Lazovic, Majda Mehmedovic, Radmila Miljanic, Bojana Popovic, Jovanka Radicevic, Ana Radovic, Maja Savic, Jasna Toskovic and Marina Vukcevic.

Prior to the 2012 Olympic Games, several other athletes from the Socialist Republic of Montenegro and the Republic of Montenegro have also won Olympic medals in five different sports as part of teams representing Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro at the Olympic Games, but none as individual competitors. 

Montenegro has sent just nine athletes to the Winter Olympics in the last four editions, competing as an independent country from Vancouver 2010 to Beijing 2022. The Slavic country has won one bronze medal at the Paralympics, Filip Radovic in table tennis at Tokyo 2020.