Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi claimed record fifth gold medals as the United States defeated Japan 90-75 in the final to win the Olympic women's basketball tournament for a seventh straight time.
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The win ensured the American women matched the US men's program for most consecutive Olympic basketball gold medals.
The men won seven straight from 1936-68.
With Bird orchestrating the flow and Taurasi's scoring, the pair have been a constant force since the 2004 Athens Games, winning all 38 of the games at the Olympics they've competed in.
They walked off the court on Sunday arm-in-arm, knowing their work was done.
"I feel so proud I've been able to wear this uniform for as long as I have, to play along side this one as long as I have," Bird said.
The names have changed around the pair, including greats Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, Tamika Catchings and Sylvia Fowles, but the results haven't.
The Americans are on a 55-game Olympic winning streak dating back to the bronze medal game of the 1992 Barcelona Games.
The US let Japan know that wasn't going to change on Sunday.
The Americans jumped out to a 18-5 lead behind a dominant first quarter by Brittney Griner. Japan was able to get within six in the second quarter before the Americans went up 11 at the half and never looked back.
Griner finished with 30 points, making 14 of her 18 shots.
While Bird is moving on, Taurasi has set her sights on Paris.
"It really is hard to wrap your head around it, to grasp what it is," said the 40-year-old Bird.
"Twenty years of staying true to the game, making sure you're at the top of your game, so much sacrifice."
Two fellow Americans, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, share the record for most gold medals won by a male player with three.
"We've ignored the 'five gold' talk because we just want to be in the moment, and we want to really enjoy our last Olympics and make it about the team," said Taurasi.
"It's 20 years of sacrifice. It's a lot of time on the court, it's a lot of time away from your family, and we've been able to do it together (her and Bird) which means probably more than any medal that we've won."
The future is bright for the US behind Griner, Breanna Stewart and the six newcomers on this year's team.
That included A'ja Wilson, who will be counted on to keep the streak going three years from now at the 2024 Paris Games. Wilson, who celebrated her 25th birthday on Sunday, made her presence felt in her Olympic debut, scoring 19 points in the gold medal game.
But there were other milestones of note besides Bird's farewell.
The victory also made Dawn Staley, the first Black women's basketball coach for the US, the second woman to win a gold medal as a player, assistant and head coach joining Anne Donovan.
Japan, which was the only one of the 11 other teams to ever have beaten the US in an Olympics, won a medal for the first time in the country's history.
The team's best finish before Sunday was fifth.
Australian Associated Press
