United States claimed a superb women's team gymnastics gold medal ©Getty Images

United States produced a performance of ruthlessness and complete domination to successfully defend their women's artistic gymnastics team title by the mammoth margin of eight points here today.

Virtually every flip, vault and glide seemed to be performed at a higher level than that of their opponents as they finished on 184.897 points.

Simone Biles was the star yet again, producing the best individual score on three of the four apparatus as opened her ambitious bid to win five gold medals at Rio 2016. 

She had ample support from team-mates Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian.

It marked the third US gold in the event after Atlanta 1996 and London 2012.

Douglas and Raisman each claimed their third Olympic gold medals following double success at London 2012.

"I have found great joy again," said Douglas. 

"It's amazing to be out there and to experience this with these wonderful girls."

Simon Biles produced a series of dominant performances to inspire the US to gold ©Getty Images
Simon Biles produced a series of dominant performances to inspire the US to gold ©Getty Images

In an event often decided by fractions of a point, the rest of the field were effectively involved in a separate battle for the minor medals.

It was won by Russia, who repeated the second placed finish behind the Americans at London 2012, with 176.688 points.

China held on to take the bronze medal in 176.003 points as Japan and Great Britain had to be content with fourth and fifth respectively. 

US superiority began on the very first apparatus, the vault, where Raisman and Biles each pulled-off the two-and-a-half twist with a blind landing to score 15.833 and 15.933 points respectively.

London 2012 all-around champion Douglas then posted 15.766 points on the bars before Kocian scored a stunning 15.933.

Mistakes were avoided on the beam, with Raisman, Hernandez and Biles all scoring over 15 points. 

They were never going to slip up on the floor, traditionally the strongest event for the US team.

Biles’s second tumbling pass includes a double layout with a half-twist and a blind landing, a move she successfully landed in top-level competition before anyone else, to score 15.800.

Aliya Mustafina produced one of the best performances of the day for the silver medal winners, posting 15.933 points on the uneven bars.

The US were always expected to dominate, with one commentator predicting the top three as "USA, USA, USA" beforehand.

They duly delivered in style.