There will be a total of 172 competitors (86 men, 86 women) in the five events of men's singles (38 players), women's singles (38 players), men's doubles (16 pairs), women's doubles (16 pairs), mixed doubles (16 pairs).
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings list to be published on June 15, 2021 – based on results from April 29, 2019, to March 15, 2020 – will be used to name an initial 38 men's and 38 women's singles players as well as all 48 doubles teams for the men's, women's and mixed competitions.
For the singles, players ranked 1-16 are taken in turn – NOCs are allotted two quota places maximum during this phase. After the 16 are decided, players ranked No. 17 or worse are taken in turn, with NOCs now only allowed one quota place maximum. This process continues until 38 for each gender are selected.
The doubles follow a similar process but the first phase includes pairs ranked 1-8, followed by the second phase starting with the pair ranked ninth.
Team USA
Athletes won't officially qualify unless they're among the top athletes, as detailed above, on the June 15 rankings list.
As of late March, these were the top-ranked American athletes: