Staking its claim to rank among the greatest women's basketball teams ever assembled, the United States captured a sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal and eighth in nine tries on Sunday.
An overwhelming 101-72 victory over Spain in the final stretched the US Olympic win streak to 49 games since a 1992 semi-final loss.
The Americans improved to 89-1 over the past 20 years in global tournaments.
Diana Taurasi and lindsay Whalen led the US squad with 17 points each in the final while Maya Moore added 14.
US stars Taurasi, Bird and Tamika Catchings matched an Olympic basketball record with their fourth gold medals each.
The only longer team Olympic gold-medal run than the US women's six is that of the US men's basketball team, which took the first seven Olympic titles.